Secrets
by KoalaNoob
Summary: Strange things are happening at Smash mansion. Every time something happens, it is more serious then the last. Soon, people are being killed, and with Visitor's Month in the background, the number of suspects have almost been doubled. How will the Smashers survive?
1. Mind Reader Prevention

**Author's Note- this is my first fic, so please be nice. Thanks to KrazyKat12 for the inspiration, though I'm sorry that this isn't quite what you said, it got twisted a bit.**

* * *

Meta Knight was ticked.

He was very ticked.

He couldn't go anywhere or do anything without having King Dedede trying to see what was beneath his mask, it was getting worse now because Dedede had recruited Ness, Kirby and Toon Link to help him in his plans to see what was under his mask. Just the previous day, Kirby had almost sucked his mask off his face, and Ness had sensed his panic since he _was_ a psychic.

Now Meta Knight had to hide out in his room, only leaving to snatch some food every now and then. He thought that things couldn't possibly get any worse. after all, his mask was the basic cover for his secrets. Not secrets that were like "I stole the cookie", darker secrets, secrets that he had, and would still kill for. That's when king Dedede decided to bust down Meta knight's door with his hammer.

"Hiya there helmet-head! As my loyal knight, you are required to show me your face," Dedede said leaning towards Meta Knight. "You are also required to tell me why you were so panicked when Kirby almost got your mask."

"I am sorry my king, but I cannot tell you that, it is a personal secret that nobody may know," Meta Knight replied.

"Well then, if you won't tell me peacefully, then I will have to do it by force buddy," Dedede stated, just has he swung his hammer at Meta knight. Meta Knight sidestepped the hammer, and a fight ensued.

As Dedede continued to swing his hammer at Meta knight, Meta Knight expertly dodged while he unsheathed Galaxia. Dedede once again swung his hammer at Meta Knight, who once again, dodged, but he did succeed in hitting Galaxia, which was still materializing from its electric state. Dedede grinned, as any normal sword would break under the force of his hammer, but Galaxia was not a normal sword, in fact, it was a sword with a spirit and a soul, created millennia ago by the king of the fire people himself. Suddenly, Dedede felt a strange shock go through his hammer and he felt an unimaginably agonizing pain.

"What was that"?! He asked when the pain ended.

"That, was a small sample of the curse that befalls anyone unworthy of wielding Galaxia that touches it, it is even more powerful when materializing." Meta Knight said with a smirk. Meta Knight swung his sword, feinting to the right, before slashing to the left and cutting open the side of Dedede's robes. Dedede started talking to Meta knight while they continued their fight.

"Since when were you this good at swordplay?!" Dedede asked.

"Since always, you were just always too focused on trying to get rid of Kirby to notice." Meta Knight replied.

"How did you get so good anyway?"

"Practice."

"Where do you practice in my castle without me knowing?!"

"In the courtyard."

"How did I never notice?!"

"You're too unobservant, and I served in the Star Warrior Army, remember? Most of my practice came from there."

"Oh yeah, and, you were, the final, surviving, warrior, right?" Dedede puffed.

"Yes, are you tired already?"

"Aren't you?"

"No, I'm just warming up."

"Ack, all this talking is tiring me out even more."

"So don't talk." Meta Knight snapped as they both returned their focus to the fight.

* * *

Outside of Meta Knight's room, Master Hand was walking/floating down the hall looking at the beautiful varieties of flowers that Olimar and his Pikmin had so expertly grown when he heard sounds of fighting. Deciding to investigate, he followed the sounds until he reached Meta knight's room, where the sounds were coming from. When he opened the door, Meta Knight and Dedede both came tumbling out. Upon seeing Master Hand, they both stopped fighting, but exchanged glares, if looks could kill they would both be dead, as well as everyone within a mile radius.

"You two, come to my office. _NOW._"

When they got to Master Hand's office, they found him waiting for them beside the door. He curtly opened the door and beckoned for them to go in.

"You two have been caught fighting outside of a brawl match, when you both know that is strictly prohibited and results in serious consequences. Do either of you have anything to say in defense for yourselves?" Master Hand said sternly.

"He won't let me see underneath his mask, so this is all his fault, get it?!"

"I am sorry Dedede, but his mask is his personal possession, so it is in fact,_ your fault._"

"Dedede, you may be dismissed, but remember that your punishment is that you are banned from brawls for a month, and you are in charge of dishwashing for the rest of your stay here. Meta Knight, I would like you to stay, I have something to talk to you about.".

"Dedede should not have tried to take your mask off, but he is right about one thing. Your mask conceals too much about you. I understand that this is something personal, so I will not make you take it off, but you _will_ have to reveal your secrets one day. You know that some of your secrets are too dark to be safe sealed up the way you have sealed them, you will one day have to release them."

"But, how did you know?" Meta Knight said as he gazed upon Master Hand.

"I am a psychic, you know, and a much stronger one than Ness. Ness is only a beginner with mind-reading, he just sensed your emotions through the way you were acting and moving, all psychics have to learn that. I do not encourage that you keep your secrets sealed, but if you are not ready to reveal your secrets yet, you can ask Lucario to teach you how to cloak your aura and block off mind-readers like Ness. Lucario is quite skilled at that and is honorable enough to not delve into your secrets. I am sorry, but I cannot help you for I, myself have never been good at blocking off mind-readers. The way Lucario reads me is like the way a language professor reads a child's picture book", he added in an annoyed mutter.

As Meta Knight walked down the hall back to his room, he thought about what Master Hand said. Should he have revealed his secrets before? People had always thought that his mask was what he used to conceal secrets, but really, his face was just a small part of what he hid, nothing physical hid his secrets. His secrets from the past.

His _dangerous_ secrets from the past.

* * *

**Author's Note-Thanks for reading this! Please review, instead of flaming, could you please put it in a nicer way? Thanks! P.S. please review telling me about the personalities of characters from Fire Emblem, Earthbound, Pikmin, Starfox, Metroid and Metal Gear, I never played those games.**


	2. Strange Happenings and a Meeting

**Author's Note- This Meta knight is from the animate, where he is obviously a good guy and is slightly more open. I will be using Canadian spelling because I am a Canadian. Guess what, Lady Paprika? I lied. I'm going to be mainly using fan-based personalities instead of the official personalities (and if you're going to complain about OOC-ness, your personality is going to go wacky too if you lived in a mansion with people from different dimensions and time periods.) Oh yeah, and I'm going to try and make Meta knight cold and stoic on the outside, but a raging storm of emotions in the inside.**

* * *

Meta Knight sat on his bed in his room, staring at the wall. It was empty, no wallpaper or pictures except for one. It was a photograph picturing several people in armor, but grinning happily. He sighed, those people were once his friends, some of the few people he had ever trusted. They were all gone now. They had all died in the war against Nightmare, leaving him all alone, with only the company of his haunting secrets. He wished he still had someone to talk to for comfort, but of course, they had all gone, and left him alone.

He felt fury rise in him, "why did they all have to die and leave him alone, why was he the one who had to deal with his own dark history, why? Why me? "STOP" he said to himself, " this is nobodies fault but Nightmare's, and now that Kirby has dealt with him, he's gone. Now stop your self-pity and go to Lucario for help, just like Master Hand recommended" he commanded himself. He composed himself and exited his room, heading for Lucario's room. He missed the whisper of "Oh you will pay Meta, one day, you will pay for what you have done to me".

When Meta Knight got to Lucario's room, Lucario was already outside waiting for him. "I sensed your aura, you have a strong one," he said telepathically before Meta Knight could ask.

"So what do you need from me?"

"Could teach me to cloak my aura?"

"Of course, but what for?"

"I am sorry, but that is personal."

"I understand, come in."

"Now the first step to cloaking your aura is to be aware of your aura, this isn't very challenging and should only take you a few days to learn. We will later progress to seeing other people's aura's before learning to cloak aura. To start, close your eyes, and be aware of everything around you, the smells, the sounds and the feelings in general". Meta Knight did as he was told, and closed his eyes. "Good, now keep practicing, this is a form of meditation exclusive to aura-users, it helps with inner-focus, therefore helping you become an aura-user. Practice this every day until you feel something strange, when that happens, return to me for more help."

* * *

As Meta Knight walked backed to his room, he saw Zelda approach him. "Good afternoon Meta knight", Zelda greeted. "Did you see anyone enter my room"?

"No, in fact, I have just returned after visiting Lucario. Why do you ask"?

"Well, you see, was in my room tending to my flowers when I heard Toon Link and Ness arguing, so I went to go help solve the problem. But when I returned to my room, my flowers were strewn across the floor and the pots were shattered, I was just wondering who did this.

"It could have fallen on it's own if it was placed near the edge of a table."

"Yes, but it was on the floor, and there was carpeting."

"Maybe you should ask Master Hand about this."

"That's a good idea. Good bye Meta Knight."

* * *

The next morning, Meta Knight awoke to a shrill scream. He rushed outside to see a large group of people already gathered around Peach's room. Seeing Zelda, he walked up to her.

"What happened?" Meta Knight asked

"Peach's clothes got stolen and she can't come out."

"Don't-a worry Peach, you-a can borrow some of my-a overalls," Mario shouted from the crowd.

When Master Hand arrived, he was fuming. "WHO WOULD HAVE DONE SUCH A THING", he boomed. "ADMIT IT NOW AND YOUR PUNISHMENT WILL BE LESS SEVERE. Nobody said a thing. "VERY WELL THEN. YOU WILL ALL HAVE TO ATTEND A MEETING AT THE MESS HALL IN FIFTEEN MINUTES."

As Meta Knight entered the mess hall ten minutes later, he saw that Master Hand was the only other person there.

"Master Hand, I have something I think I should tell you."

"What is it Meta Knight, do you know who did this?"

"No, but I have a possible clue. Yesterday, Zelda left her room, and when she went back, her pots were shattered."

"Thank you Meta Knight, that should be quite a useful piece of information. I will look into that."

They sat in silence, waiting for the other smashers to arrive, and soon enough, Ike did arrive, followed by Marth. Next came Link, chatting with Zelda. The rest of the smashers arrived quite quickly, and soon the only people left were Mario, Luigi and Peach. A while later, everyone heard screams of "no I can't go in there looking like this!" Mario and Luigi entered a few minutes carrying a very distraught Peach. She was wearing a pair of overalls quite similar to Mario and Luigi's, but pink in colour. What are you wearing? Fox asked. Peach screamed and immediately hid behind Mario.

"Oh don't worry about it Peach," Mario said.

"Yeah, and Fox, she has nothing else to wear," Luigi added.

"What about her sports clothes?"

"Those got stolen too."

"Well, now that everyone's here, let us begin our meeting," Master Hand announced.

"As you all know, Peach's clothes were stolen, and we don't know who did it. Meta Knight has also informed me that Zelda's pots were broken while she was away. I would like anyone that knows who did this or has any possible clues to speak up now."

"Lately, I have detected a strange aura here that I have never felt before. It isn't a good or bad aura, just something strange I have never felt before. I thought it was just one of Olimar's Pikmin, a newly harvested one, but it could be something else," Lucario said.

"Have you been sprouting new Pikmin lately Olimar?" Master Hand asked.

"No, I haven't."

"Well then, this could be a valuable piece of information. It could be the culprit's aura. Has anyone seen someone unfamiliar around here?"

"I certainly haven't," Zelda said.

"Nor me," Link added.

"I haven't anything unusual around here either," Red chimed in.

"Then I gather that nobody has seen anything strange. It is likely to be a smasher after all," Master Hand said gravely.

"Maybe we can organize a group of people to help solve this mystery," Ike suggested.

"That's a good idea. May I join?" Lucario asked.

"I see a problem in your plan Ike," Marth said.

"And what may that problem be?"

"The culprit could end up in the group, and this mystery would never be solved."

"We could just have Lucario or anyone else that can read aura check everyone's aura here and we'll be done," Falco said cockily.

"Again, the person checking the aura could be the culprit," Marth responded.

"Yes, and if the person checking the aura isn't the culprit, the real culprit could just cloak his or her aura," Lucario added.

"Are you suggesting something Lucario? You and Master Hand are the only ones at smash mansion that can use aura properly," Snake said.

"No I'm not suggesting anything. Meta Knight, Ness and Lucas are learning to use aura too."

"So you all have just taken it in a loop. Right now, after all that discussing, we have no way to find out who the culprit is," Master Hand said dryly.

"So we all came here for nothing?!" Link exclaimed.

"Well, no, there is something else I have to announce," Master Hand said in a happier tone. Visitor month is here and you may all choose _anyone_,you want to come here."

* * *

**Author's Note- Thanks to Heliotropium for the idea of visitor's month. Hmmm, I wonder what Master Hand means by _anyone_. Red will be the Pokemon Trainer's name. I am fully aware that I called Meta knight Meta. It was intentional. Well, anyway, please review!**


	3. Guest List and Poison

Author's Note- Hi people! Not much to say right now, but if you haven't guessed yet, this lucario is from Lucario and the Mystery of Mew. This pikachu is Ash's pikachu. To whoever reviewed under the name Guest. Did I not make it clear that this Mete Knight is from the ANIMATE? Next time you attempt to flame, you can at least _try_ to make your meaning clear, though it's probably past your brain-power to do that.

* * *

"What do you mean by _anyone_,"Samus said suspiciously.

"By anyone, I mean anyone. Anyone at all, dead or alive," Master Hand answered.

"You mean we can have everyone we want back?" Meta Knight asked quietly.

"Not everyone, _anyone_. You may all choose one person, dead or alive, to visit for a month."

"Will they just be spirits, or will they be solid, living beings, Lucario questioned.

"You should know the answer to that Lucario, we will be bringing them back the same way we brought you back," Master Hand replied.

"Lucario is from the dead?" Sonic asked in a frightened tone.

"Yes, I am."

Upon those words, Sonic fainted.

"Will they stay alive after the month is over?" Lucas asked.

"It will be their choice to stay here or return to the dead."

"Are there any more questions?"

"Yes, how are you going to bring them back from the dead anyway?" Pit asked.

"The Gray Mage."

"Who might The Gray Mage be?" Snake asked.

"She is a mage who has studied the differences between life and death. She has also studied the differences between good and evil She also happens to be the only mage that can raise the dead and change good to evil and vice versa."

"Does this mean that I can see Claus again?" Lucas asked.

"I think so, but isn't he evil?" Red responded.

"NO, Claus isn't evil. He just made a mistake, and everything's all right now. I still wish he hadn't died though," Lucas answered a bit more quietly.

"So if she can change evil to good, why doesn't she make everyone in the world good? Pit asked.

"The world must always have balance. You may think that evil is bad and good is good, but some people think differently. Having a world with nothing but evil would be a bad world, but so would a world with nothing but good." Perfection lies in balance," Master Hand replied.

"Are there any more questions?"

Nobody answered.

"Well then, this sheet will be bulletin board. Put your name on the name side and the name of your guest on the guest side. If you do not wish to have a guest, simply write down no guest. The guests will come when this sheet is completely filled. Take your time in deciding who your guest will be."

* * *

A lot of people were lining up to fill in their part of the sheet. Meta Knight was brimming with happiness and excitement, but still had a regret that he couldn't invite both Garlude and Jecra. He was having trouble deciding between Jecra and Garlude. They were both good friends of his. Jecra had been his best friend before he had died.

_"Well, it would be less awkward if I chose Jecra, since he's a boy and Garlude is a girl. People might start to think things that aren't true. Jecra also knows my secret. I guess I'll choose Jecra."_

When Meta Knight got in line to fill in his part of the sheet, he saw that there were already several spots filled. The names were on a T-chart format, showing who would be bringing whom.

Peach-Daisy,

Bowser-Bowser Jr.,

Diddy Kong-Dinky Kong,

Link-Midna,

Toon Link-Tetra,

Pit-Palutena,

Kirby- Tiff,

King Dedede-Escargoon,

Olimar-Louie,

Pikachu-Ash,

Red-Mewtwo,

Lucario-Sir Aaron,

Marth-Elice,

and Lucas-Claus.

Out of all the people on the list, Meta Knight only knew two people. They were Escargoon and Tiff. Back at Popstar, Tiff had been completely devoted to Kirby, helping him whenever he needed it and taking care of him whenever there was danger. Escargoon was Dedede's number one servant. He would do almost anything the king wanted without question. Meta Knight had heard of some of the other guests, like Elice and Palutena. Elice was Marth's deceased sister, Marth had told him about her when they were training together and Palutena was Pit's goddess. Marth, Ike and Pit were the people he was closest to at Smash Mansion other than Kirby. In fact the four of them were the only people he was close to at all.

After he filled in his part of the sheet with Jecra's name, he left the mess hall to return to his room. Once again, he missed a whisper. This time the whisper was "_more to make you pay for Meta, and you _will_ pay. That I promise."_

* * *

Later that day, Meta Knight returned to the mess hall for dinner. He sat down between Pit and Olimar. He didn't have any food since he didn't want to take his mask off just for food that he could eat later. Meta Knight watched in mild interest as Olimar gave his Pikmin a dish of nectar. As soon as he set the dishes down, the Pikmin swarmed them, trying to get to the food first. The first Pikmin to get to the food was a red leaf Pikmin, but as soon as he took a bite, he evaporated into a Pikmin spirit.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO! STEVE!" Olimar wailed in horror.

Another Pikmin ate some of the food and evaporated too. The rest of the Pikmin were smart enough to not eat any of the food, but Olimar was still in distress.

"Would you like me to get Master Hand?" Marth asked.

"Y-y-y-yes p-please," Olimar answered, still in a state of shock.

Marth ran off into the hallway in search of Master Hand as everyone crowded around Olimar wanting to know what had happened.

A few minutes later, Master Hand floated into the mess hall. He started to say something, but quickly stopped when he saw that everyone had gathered around a very panicked Olimar.

"What happened," he asked immediately.

"Olimar's Pikmin ate their food and died," Meta Knight replied from the outside of the crowd.

"I see," Master Hand said tersely.

"Olimar, I would like you to come to my office right away," Master Hand said as he turned around to leave. Olimar quickly ran off after him.

Dedede walked up to Meta Knight with Ness Kirby and Toon Link at his side and started to say something, but he was quickly silenced when Marth burst into the room panting.

"Couldn't find… Looked all over… Disappeared…"

"Calm down Marth, Master Hand was already here. He and Olimar are in his office," Ike comforted.

"So what happened while I was away?" Marth panted.

"Master Hand came here. I think he had some sort of announcement to make, but he saw how everyone was crowding Olimar and realized that something happened," Ike explained.

"So then what happened?"

"We're not sure. As I said before, Master Hand is with Olimar in his office now."

* * *

"So Olimar, give me a summary of what happened," Master Hand said.

"W-well, I was j-just a-at the mess h-h-hall f-feeding m-my Pikmin w-when they a-ate some f-f-food and d-d-died."

"Hmmm, I see. Were you feeding them a new brand of food?"

"N-no sir, I m-m-make all o-of the Pikmin's f-f-food by m-m-myself with th-the nectar from the f-flowers I g-grow."

"So they didn't eat any new strange food. This brings to the conclusion that they were poisoned."

"So w-what do I d-d-do n-now?"

"Don't worry about it. Just go and finish your dinner and do something to relax."

"Okay s-sir," Olimar said as he left.

"Hmmm, there is something strange going on in this mansion," Master Hand said to himself.

"Something strange indeed."

* * *

Author's Note- Thanks for reading this! For the visitor's month thing, you can all decide who the rest of the visitors will be. Any character that doesn't have a guest by the time the next chapter comes out will have no guest. Submitting a guest will earn you a shout-out. Anyone who knows who Steve is (Where he came from and any additional facts) will get an extra clue and a shout-out. The characters that are open to guests are: Mario, Luigi, Donkey Kong, Wario, Zelda, Ganondorf, Samus, Ice Climbers, R.O.B., Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Jigglypuff, Ike, Ness, Mr. Game and Watch, Sonic and Snake.


	4. The Voice and The Fall

Author's Note- Here's the next chapter, thanks to all the people who submitted a guest. Your shoutout will appear in the next chapter, since there aren't enough guests yet, but I have SPECIAL THANKS to Nightshade for being so awesome and submitting a guest (before the contest, which is even better).

* * *

Meta Knight walked down the hallway of the Kirby section of the Mansion where the Kirby characters lived. He was looking for Dedede since Dedede had been trying to tell him something earlier that night, but he was nowhere to be found. Deciding that it was nothing, Meta Knight shrugged it off and returned to his room, planning on asking Dedede in the morning. When he got back to his room, he heard a whisper. It was so quiet that he couldn't hear what the whisper was, but it sounded vengeful and he had a faint recognition of the voice. He wasn't sure who it was, the only thing he knew about it was that he had heard it before. Still pondering who the voice was, he entered his room, climbed into his bed and fell asleep.

Meta Knight's dreams were nightmares, complete, utter nightmares. He dreamt that he was watching his friends die all over again, having to kill Jecra to stop him, having to watch Garlude die to save Galaxia, watching the final battle where he became the final star warrior. Meta Knight couldn't take it, but he couldn't seem to wake up from the dream. Suddenly, everything went pitch-black and Meta Knight couldn't see anything. At first, he was relieved that he could stop watching the Star Warrior Army die out, but then he started hearing the voices of his dead army-mates. All their voices were slurred together and Meta Knight couldn't decipher what any single one was saying, but from what he _was _picking up, Meta Knight realized that they were asking why he didn't save them. Finally, the nightmare ended and Meta Knight woke up from his fitful slumber.

* * *

The morning after Meta Knight's horrendous nightmare, Meta Knight walked downstairs into the mess hall, where there were already many people chatting excitedly. Finding King Dedede, he walked up to him.

"King Dedede, what were you going to tell me last night?"

"Huh? Oh, uh nothing! I just wanted to apologize for trying to steal your mask! Ness, Toon Link and Kirby want to apologize too! Nothing special about it at all!" Dedede said a bit too quickly.

"King Dedede, I know you're up to something. You have that face and tone of voice. Are you _sure_ you're not falling for someone's evil schemes again?"

"No, no, no. Of course not. I was just curious, that was the only reason I did it!" Dedede answered, starting to sound quite nervous.

"Dedede, I know you're up to something, but I won't pry. Just make sure you don't end up being a puppet again like you were to Nightmare," Meta Knight said as he walked away.

"That's KING Dedede!" Dedede yelled after Meta Knight.

* * *

Meta Knight spotted Marth sitting next to Pit and walked up to the table they were sitting at, taking a seat next to Marth.

"Hey, Meta Knight, did you hear about the Visitor's Tournament?" Marth asked excitedly.

"No I have not, what is it? Meta Knight replied curiously.

"Well Master Hand announced this morning that there would be a tournament that our guests and us will take part in together! There'll be a mixture of one-against-one and two-against-twos! I can't wait for it to start!"

"So do you guys want to practice after breakfast?" Pit asked halfheartedly.

" Of course, but why do you seem so hesitant about this?" Meta Knight responded.

"Well, if there is a tournament with guests, then I might end up having to fight Palutena, and I really don't want to. What if she gets upset because I would attack her?" Pit fretted.

"I'm sure she won't get upset if you have to fight her, in fact, I think she'll want you to fight her with everything you've got. She will be happy to see how strong you've gotten," Marth comforted.

"Well… Okay. So where do you want to train?" Pit said brightening up a bit.

"How about we just start at the training room," Marth suggested.

"Sure, and maybe we can try an actual match after," Pit added.

"What do you think Meta Knight," Marth asked.

"Why not? I have nothing else to do."

"Let's go then!" Pit said energetically.

"Just let me finish this bacon first. It's delicious!" Marth said.

* * *

The training room was humongous, with something for _everyone _to train with. There were HUGE heavyweights for Kirby to practice inhaling with, hunks of metal that fire-users could practice breathing fire on, targets for archers, sandbags to practice punching on, even plastic that electricity-users could try to electrocute (the only one able was Pikachu with his thunder attack). Marth, Pit and Meta Knight were using a field made just for swordfighters. They were taking turns doing one-on-ones. The current pair was Pit and Marth. Meta Knight watched as the two clashed swords, Marth's longer sword slamming powerfully onto Pit's smaller broadsword. Marth, being stronger than Pit thought he had won the fight, but unfortunately for Marth, he had forgotten about Pit's other sword, which soon dug into his arm. Wincing, he pulled his sword away from Pit's sword and tried a double feint, failing as Pit used his two swords to block either side of him. That was when Pit realized something. He had left his chest open. Marth had noticed too and smirked as he stabbed his sword at Pit's chest, stopping right before he would have drawn blood. "Well, looks like I won," Marth said happily.

"I believe it is my turn to fight Marth now," Meta Knight stated as he walked onto the field.

Marth responded by rushing forward and slashing his sword at Meta Knight, who simply blocked it. The two of them repeatedly clashed swords until Meta Knight broke free and did a double feint, his sword stopping right before it hit Marth's neck.

"How did you beat me so easily?! Pit beat you, and I beat Pit, so shouldn't I have beaten you too?"

"Pit just got lucky with his double broadswords."

"Okay, so now were going to try an actual match, right?" Marth asked in a slightly annoyed tone.

"Yes, we are, which stage do you want to use?" Meta Knight replied.

"We can just choose random, that way, nobody gets an unfair advantage," Marth decided.

"Sure, that's a great idea, but I think you're getting too competitive. Unfair advantage, really?! That's the kind of thing people talk about in those huge tournaments," Pit said.

"Yeah, well one of those huge tournaments is going to happen in a week or so," Marth remarked dryly.

"Oh. Right. Well let's just get going!"

_"That will be the perfect way for me to start my _true_ revenge."_

* * *

As the Pit, Marth and Meta Knight got to the randomized stage, Meta Knight couldn't help but wonder who the voice he had heard was. He _knew_ that he had heard that voice before, but he just couldn't quite put his finger on it. He was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard a voice shout "BEGIN" and realized that they had already been teleported to a stage. Looking around a bit, Meta Knight realized that they were on the Bridge of Eldin. Seeing that Pit and Marth were already locked in combat with each other, he decided to let them fight it out, then attack when they were weaker. Suddenly, he heard a loud rumbling noise and instinctively jumped into the air and started flying, to see that Pit had done the same and Marth had jumped to dodge the oncoming army. When the bridge started crumbling, Meta Knight realized that the _whole thing_ was crumbling and not just the middle. Alarmed, he turned to make sure Pit and Marth were both safe, then remembered that Marth couldn't fly like he and Pit could. Plunging down to grab Marth, he realized that Marth was a LOT bigger than he was, not to mention heavier too.

"PIT! Help me save Marth!"

Pit, who was panicking heard Meta Knight and did a nosedive to help Meta Knight rescue Marth, but even with the both of them, Marth was too heavy and he slipped from their grasp and fell.

"Well, at least there's a safety net," Pit said.

"Pit, the safety net is missing!"

"WHAT?!"

Looking down, they both saw Marth sprawled on the ground beneath the bridge unmoving.

"Pit! We have to get help!"

"But the transporter won't send us back unless only one of us is left standing!"

"I'll glide down to Marth. When the transporter sends us back, you run and get Master Hand," Meta Knight said in a determined voice as he started gliding down from the spot he was hovering at.

The second Meta Knight touched the ground, he felt himself being teleported back to the Mansion. Pit had already dashed off and was yelling "MASTER HAND" at the top of his lungs.

Soon, Pit returned with Master Hand. Without a word, Master Hand picked Marth up and quickly floated to the infirmary, Meta Knight and Pit running behind him.

* * *

At the infirmary, Marth was lying of a hospital bed with Doctor Mario hovering over him.

"Will Marth be okay?" Pit asked anxiously

"I am quite certain that Marth will survive, but until he wakes up, I can't be sure of his injuries, as he isn't in his own time or dimension. It will cause some… complications. His injuries will be strange and I will only be able to do my best to fix them," Doctor Mario said confessed solemnly.

"I am going to inform the other Smashers of this unfortunate incident. Doctor Mario, stay here with Pit and Meta Knight and tell me if you learn anything new," Master Hand said as he floated through the doorway.

"I have to go check something," Doctor Mario said after Master Hand left.

"So Pit, when do you think Marth will wake up?" Meta Knight asked quietly.

"I don't know. Maybe a day or I THINK HE'S WAKING UP NOW!"

* * *

**Author's Note- Thanks for reading this! If you haven't figured it out yet, the Guest List Contest is still on! Please review!**


	5. First Guests

**Author's Note- Thanks to Magikarpia, JI360, KrazyKat12, Nightshade1712 and NineThe Kitsune for helping with the guests. You guys are awesome. Oh, and did I mention that there's going to be a very special guest? Some of you know who I'm talking about. Now on with the chapter.**

* * *

"Huh? Where am I? I was falling and then-, what happened?"

"Marth, You fell off the Bridge of Eldin, and the safety net was missing," Meta Knight explained.

All of a sudden, Doctor Mario burst into the room. "What? Is Marth awake?"

"Yeah! And I don't think he's too badly injured either!" Pit said happily.

"That's certainly good news, but I still have to x-ray him, in case there is something wrong.

* * *

"So what do you want to do now?" Pit asked. "I'm kind of hungry, can we go have lunch?"

Meta Knight merely nodded his head.

The two of them walked down the hallway to the kitchen, where lunch was just being served.

Pit found a seat and sat down, Meta Knight sitting down beside him.

"Do you mind if I go and look at the guest list? I'm not going to eat anything anyway," Meta Knight asked.

"Sure, it's not like I can stop you."

Meta Knight walked to the guest list, which was on the bulletin board in the cafeteria. He saw that there were more people on the list.

Mario-no guest

Luigi-no guest

Peach-Daisy

Bowser-Bowser Jr.

Donkey Kong-Funky Kong

Diddy Kong-Dinky Kong

Yoshi-no guest

Wario-Waluigi

Link-Midna

Zelda-no guest

Ganondorf-no guest

Toon Link-Tetra

Samus-no guest

Pit-Palutena

Ice Climbers-no guest

R.O.B.-no guest

Kirby-Tiff

Meta Knight-Jecra

Dedede-Escargoon

Olimar-Louie

Fox-Krystal

Falco-no guest

Wolf-no guest

Captain Falcon-no guest

Red-Mewtwo

Pikachu-Ash

Lucario-Sir Aaron

Jigglypuff-Joshua

Marth-Elice

Ike-Mist

Ness-no guest

Lucas-Claus

Mr. Game and Watch-no guest

Sonic-Tails

Snake-no guest

Meta Knight returned to where Pit was sitting, taking a seat next to him.

"Everyone has filled in their part of the sheet, I think the guests will be arriving soon."

"Really? I'll get to see Palutena soon!" Pit said excitedly.

"I can't wait to see Jecra either," Meta Knight responded.

"I think an hour has passed. Do you want to see how Marth is doing?"

"Of course."

* * *

When they got into the infirmary, Doctor Mario came out of his office.

"Why hello there, you're just in time. I was about to x-ray Marth."

"Can we watch?" Pit asked.

"I don't see why not, but first we have to wake Marth up," Doctor Mario said.

"I'm already awake," Marth grumbled groggily.

"That's excellent! Please follow me to the x-ray room," Doctor Mario said.

Marth pushed himself up from his bed and got up, but he instantly collapsed onto the floor.

"Interesting, could one of you get that wheelchair over there in the corner?" Doctor Mario asked as he walked through a door.

Pit got the wheelchair and put Marth in it. He pushed the wheelchair through the door that Doctor Mario had gone through.

Doctor Mario was waiting inside. He gestured for Pit to put Marth in an x-ray, and Pit obeyed.

After the x-ray was finished, Doctor Mario looked at the results.

"Hmmm interesting, no broken bones," Doctor Mario mused.

"Will Marth be alright?" Pit said worriedly.

"He'll be fine. I've had many patients in the same conditions as Marth. He'll be back to normal in a week or two."

"That's great!" Pit chirped, already cheering up. He might be able to compete in the tournament!"

"He'll only recover in time if you let him rest, so I recommend that you let him rest now," Doctor Mario said.

"Just a few more minutes?" Pit begged.

"Pit, we should listen to Doctor Mario. Don't you want Marth to recover as soon as possible?" Meta Knight, who had been silent until now said.

"Well, alright. Can we check the bulletin board for any new announcements? Maybe the guests will be coming soon."

"Of course."

* * *

Meta Knight and Pit walked down the twisting maze-like hallways to the cafeteria, but on the way there, they saw a strange woman dressed completely in gray walking down the hallway.

"Excuse me, my name is Bella. Do you know where Master Hand's office is? I'm a bit lost," she said in a kind voice.

"Go straight, take the first left turn you see, then keep going. You will see a door labeled Mater Hand's Office. Be sure to knock before going in," Meta Knight instructed.

"Thanks," Bella said gratefully before she continued down the hallway.

When Pit and Meta Knight reached the cafeteria, they saw that the guest list was gone. A notice was pinned where the guest list used to be.

_To all smashers,_

_Everyone has filled in his or her part of the guest list and it has been removed. If you change your mind, it is too late, the guests have been invited and will arrive shortly._

_Please welcome Bella, The Gray Mage. She will be bringing back the dead guests over the next few days._

_The tournament will start in two weeks. If you do not wish to enter, please inform Master Hand. -_Master Hand

"Wait, that woman we saw earlier was THE GRAY MAGE?!" Pit exclaimed.

"It would appear so."

"Do you mind if I go play with Red?"

"Of course not, I have something to ask Master Hand anyway."

* * *

When Meta Knight got to Mater Hand's office, he saw Dedede was already waiting outside. Master Hand opened the door to his office to let Meta Knight and Dedede inside.

"What do you two need?"

"There is something important that I must tell you Master Hand," Meta Knight started.

"Uh, I guess this is private stuff! I'll just be leaving for now!" Dedede said nervously.

"I would like you to stay for this Dedede," Meta Knight said.

"So what is it that you have to tell me Meta Knight?"

"Dedede has been acting strange lately. I have reason to think that he has something to do with these strange happenings."

"I see. Dedede, do you have anything to say about this?"

"That's what I came here for. I've been hearing a disembodied voice telling me to do things. That's why I tried to take Meta Knight's mask. The others just did it for fun. The voice starting to tell me to do other things, like break Zelda's vases and poison the Pikmin, Lately, the voice has been telling me to kill The Gray Mage. I knew that was too much, so I came to tell you."

"It is good that you told me. I will decide your punishment tomorrow. You may both be dismissed."

* * *

A while later, Meta Knight went to the cafeteria for dinner. He saw a strange humanoid cat-like creature with a gray tail. "_I guess that's one of the guests,"_ Meta Knight thought. The humanoid cat seemed to be planning something; he was staring at his food, but not eating it.

Master Hand entered the cafeteria, giving a loud cough to get everyone's attention. All the smashers and the few guests that were already there turned their heads to look at Master Hand.

"Tonight, Bella will begin bringing back the dead. The one she will be bringing back tonight is Claus. Lucas, please go to my office after you finish eating." Master Hand announced. "We have also found out who is responsible for the strange happenings. King Dedede is responsible; he supposedly did it under the command of a disembodied voice. If you hear a strange voice, please report it to me," Master Hand finished.

Master Hand turned around to leave, but before he could, a shrill scream was heard.

"I think that's Bella!"

* * *

**Author's Note-So, anyone want to kill me? (Yes I'm talking about you 2) Does anyone have any guesses on who the voice is? About the "Strange humanoid cat", more will be explained next time. Does anybody have any guesses on who the humanoid cat is?  
**


	6. Revived Guests

**Author's Note- Sorry for the wait! Here's the next chapter.  
**

* * *

Everyone rushed down the hallway to Master Hand's office. Bella and Lucas were backing out of the room; dark purple smoke was coming out of Master Hand's office.

"Bella! What happened?" Master Hand asked in surprise.

"I don't know. I was just reviving Claus, but then there was an explosion. I don't know how it happened," Bella answered.

"I see. Why don't you try again in a different room?" Master Hand suggested.

"Which room should I use?" Bella asked.

"Why don't you use Lucas's room?"

"I can take you there." Lucas said.

Bella followed Lucas as he ran off.

"It was just a small accident. You may all return to the cafeteria to finish eating," Master Hand announced.

The smashers started returning to the cafeteria, but the ones that had finished eating returned to their rooms.

Meta Knight was among the ones that had finished eating. When he had returned to his room, he started doing the exercise that Lucario had taught him. Closing his eyes and opening his mind, he sat there in silence. Suddenly, he felt something…strange. Smoky, blue bits of light appeared. At first, he could only see one. The one right in front of him, but as he focused on opening his mind more, they appeared all around him. He started seeing purple ones, though there were far more blues than purples. A while later, he saw a single red wisp of smoke. Focusing even more, Mete Knight found a strange wisp of smoke. He couldn't decide what colour it was, the more he concentrated on it, the more obscure and mysterious it became. Deciding to finish his meditation, he opened his eyes and the wisps of smoke disappeared.

_"I should tell Lucario about this. I was supposed to tell him if I felt anything strange,"_ Meta Knight thought to himself.

* * *

"So you are already able to detect aura," Lucario said.

"Were those wisps of smoke aura?" Meta Knight asked.

"Yes. Tell me about what you saw."

"There were many blue ones and a few purple ones. I also saw a red one and one which I could not detect much from."

"A red one?" Lucario questioned.

"Yes. Is that a problem?"

"No, it isn't a problem, but at the same time, it is," Lucario muttered.

"What about the strange one?"

"I have seen that one too. I was also unable to learn anything about it."

"Do you think it has anything to do with the strange happenings?"

"In fact, I do. I should tell you more about the different types of aura now though," Lucario said. "Blue auras are auras that are good. Red auras are evil auras. Purple is a mix, like Bowser. He isn't really evil; it's just that he will go to great lengths to get what he wants. The strange aura is the first of its kind I have ever seen before, it has certain similarities to blocked auras."

"So there is an evil aura here?"

"Yes, there is. Now I want you to try focusing on your own aura and dimming it. Keep dimming it until it seems to disappear."

Meta Knight nodded and left the room, but as soon as he left, there was an announcement.

"All of the guests have arrived. We only have to wait for the deceased guests to be revived and the tournament will begin. Tonight after dinner, we will have another meeting, where the guests will introduce themselves. Meta Knight and Lucario report to my office to have their guests revived."

* * *

"You can go first," Lucario offered.

"Thank you."

Inside Master Hand's office, Bella waited for Meta Knight to enter.

"Who is your guest?"

"Jecra."

"I'll go and get his spirit," Bella said as she clasped her hands together and entered a trance-like state. "His spirit is here. I will now revive him."

Bella seemed to enter the trance-like state she had been in before. Her eyes suddenly flashed blue, and she stumbled, almost collapsing. When she regained consciousness, Bella clapped her hands together and suddenly, there was a flash and there were two more solid beings in the room. When the light cleared, Meta Knight saw Jecra looking around the room wildly.

"JECRA!" Meta Knight exclaimed.

"Huh? Oh, hi Meta! Have you seen Garlude anywhere?"

Meta Knight looked around and saw Garlude standing in a corner looking very confused.

"GARLUDE!" Meta Knight exclaimed.

"Why are there _two_ more people here instead of just one?" Bella asked tersely.

Jecra looked at his feet. "Uh, I invited Garlude to get revived too?"

"I will have to talk to Master Hand about this. I suppose she could stay here for now though," Bella said.

"So you invited me to get revived when I wasn't supposed to be?" Garlude asked.

"Uh, yes," Jecra said nervously.

"I'll show you around Smash Mansion," Meta Knight said.

"You live in a MANSION?!" Jecra exclaimed.

"No, I was invited to enter a tournament for elite fighters. This is where competitors stay."

"Why don't you show them around while I talk to Master Hand?" Bella suggested.

"It'd be nice to meet some other people," Garlude chimed in.

"Why not," Meta Knight said in an uncharacteristically happy tone.

Meta Knight, Jecra and Garlude exited Master Hand's office and Lucario went in.

* * *

"Pit, meet Jecra and Garlude," Meta Knight said.

"Hi there. Why do you have two guests Meta Knight?" Pit asked.

"Jecra invited Garlude to be revived too. Where's Palutena?"

"She's having fun in the kitchen. I hope she doesn't end up with carrots chasing her again."

"Carrots chasing her?" Jecra inquired.

"Uh, you don't want to know."

BANG. "Aaaaahhhh, the carrots are after me!"

"Uh-oh. Sorry, gotta go," Pit said worriedly.

"That was…interesting," Garlude stated.

"I'll take you to meet Ma-" "ANOUNCEMENT: WOULD META KNIGHT PLEASE REPORT TO MASTER HAND'S OFFICE RIGHT AWAY."

Several smashers turned and looked at Meta Knight.

"I'd better go," Meta Knight said nervously.

* * *

Meta Knight approached Master Hand's office, dreading what was to come.

"Meta Knight, I have reached my decision about Jecra and Garlude."

* * *

**Author's Note- CLIFFHANGER! Meta Night Star, you probably want to kill me now. Eh, Meta Knight's reaction doesn't seem correct.**


	7. Introductions

**Author's Note- Sorry for the wait. I had no inspiration and didn't feel like writing. Anyway, I'm probably signing TWO death warrants in one chapter. Oh well.**

* * *

"They-" Master Hand was interrupted when Jecra and Garlude burst into the room.

"AAAAAAAAHHHH! A GIANT DISEMBODIED HAND!" Jecra screamed.

"Don't be so disrespectful," Meta Knight hissed.

"So can we stay?" Garlude asked hopefully.

"Yes."

"Woot." Jecra said. Garlude rolled her eyes at him.

"Thank you for letting us stay Master Hand," Garlude said gratefully.

"You will both have to talk during the meeting tonight. You may now leave."

* * *

"So we can stay."

"Yes, you can stay. You'll have to share a room though."

"Let's just get some dinner," Garlude said exasperatedly.

The three of them went to the dining room. There were a lot of people there; many were guests. They found a spot where they could all sit together and sat down. Garlude looked at the food. It was sloppy and overcooked. Most of the dishes consisted mostly of garlic.

"Uh… I'm not hungry anymore…"

"The food is usually better than this. Peach couldn't cook today and Wario took over." Meta Knight said apologetically.

"A piece of fruit cooks your meals?!"

"No, Peach is the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom. She's a great chef."

Just then, Master Hand floated into the room.

"The meeting is about to start. When I call your name, you are to stand up and tell us your name, which dimension you're from, who invited you and a little about yourself. The first guest will be Daisy."

A brown-haired girl in a tiara and an orange dress stood up.

"Hi! I'm Daisy from the Mushroom Kingdom. Peach invited me. I'm a princess too, but that doesn't mean I can't fight!"

"That was excellent. Next up is Bowser Jr."

The small reptilian creature leapt to his feet.

"I'm from the Mushroom Kingdom and my dad invited me! I'm going to win this tournament, and one day, I'll be King of the Koopas!" Bowser Jr. said arrogantly

"That is very interesting. Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong, I am sorry to tell you that your guests were unable to come. Next is Waluigi.

The tall purple-wearing rose to his feet.

"I'm from the Mushroom Kingdom and Wario invited me. You may be good at what you do, but nobody can cheat better than me!"

"Next up is Midna."

A small imp creature stood on a chair.

"I'm Midna from the Twilight Realm. Link invited me. I'm a twili princess, but I got transformed into an imp."

"It is now Tetra's turn."

A toony girl in sailor's clothes rose.

"I was invited here by Toon Link, but I'm from Flooded Hyrule. I'm really a toon version of Princess Zelda, but I prefer being a pirate."

"Palutena."

A green haired woman weilding a staff and wearing a white dress started speaking:

"I am Palutena, the Goddess of Light, rival to Medusa, though she has redeemed herself. I was invited here from Skyworld by Pit, the captain of my royal guard.

"Tiff."

"Hi, I'm Tiff. Kirby invited me here from Cappy Town. I love learning and teaching people. I'm also the protector of Kirby's warp star."

"Jecra."

"I'm one of the fallen soldiers of the Star Warriors. Meta Knight invited me. I enjoy good pranks."

"Garlude."

"I'm Garlude, another fallen Star Warrior. I wasn't invited, but Jecra told me to follow him when he was about to be revived."

"Escargoon."

"I am Escargoon of Cappy Town, loyal servant of King Dedede. The king was the one who invited me."

"Louie."

"I'm Louie, from the planet Hocotate. I work for Hocotate Freight, with Olimar who invited me. I like food. Hmmm… I wonder how stewed Pikmin would taste…"

"Fox, Krystal is not here yet. She is busy with the Star Fox team, but will arrive shortly. Next is Mewtwo."

_"I am Mewtwo. Red invited me. Scientists who thought they could make a third Mew clone created me. I am not the original Mew or the original Mewtwo. I am a failed experiment. I was unable to match the true Mewtwo's power. I was abandoned. Master Hand found me outside of Smash Mansion."_

"Thank you. I would like to clear things up a bit. When I was inviting the guests, I found this Mewtwo outside of Smash Mansion. I decided to invite this one instead of the original. The original has a purple tail where this one has a gray one. Would Ash please take his turn."

"I'm Ash from the land of Kanto and I'm training to be a Pokemon master! Pikachu is my best friend and he invited me here! I'll be fighting with a Tepig, an Oshawott and a Snivy. I wanted to use Pikachu, but he has to compete on his own."

"Sir Aaron."

"I am Sir Aaron, from the land of Pokemon. I am a user of aura. Lucario is my trusted partner, it was also he who invited me."

"Joshua."

A young boy with black hair and glasses stood up.

"Um… Hi, I'm Josh. I'm a Pokemon trainer who raises eeveelutions. Jigglypuff is an exception. She invited me. I will be fighting with Vaporeon, Flareon, Jolteon, Espeon, Umbreon, Glaceon, Leafeon and Sylveon. The Sylveons special nickname is Tayl. She _is_ a bit hyperactive though. And by a bit, I mean extremely."

"Marth, Elice was unable to come. I invited Caeda instead. She will arrive in a few days."

"Mist."

"Hi, I'm Mist of the Greil Mercenaries. My brother Ike invited me. I have strong healing capabilities."

"Claus."

"I am Claus. My brother Lucas invited me. I was once evil, but I have changed."

"Tails."

"Hi, I'm Tails! Sonic invited me. I like technology… Hey, what's that robot thing?"

"I am R.O.B. R.O.B. is short for Robotic Operating Buddy. You may examine me after this meeting."

"Cool! I can't wait!"

"All the guests have spoken. Meeting adjourned," Master Hand announced.

"What?! But you forgot about me!" A certain redhead piped up.

* * *

**Author's Note- CLIFFHANGER! So, are you going to track me down and kill me now Meta Night Star? What about you, JOSHUD? Can any of you guess who the redhead is? (Not KrazyKat, I did it on your demands). Eh, it's pretty obvious.**


	8. Roy

**Author's Note- To the people who thought the last chapter was dull, I'm sorry. But, there WAS a setup to a vital bit of the story. Someone asked me via PM if Bella (The Gray Mage) was named after Bella from...is the book called Twilight? Well, I've never read the book. Bella just sounds right (I don't know why). Actually, I named her after a DOG from the SURVIVORS series.**

***VERY IMPORTANT* SOMEONE told me that Elice was dead. I have just been informed that she ISN'T. I have changed Marth's guest to Caeda after some more information. Just re-read chapter 7 (introductions). You might even catch the important bit!**

* * *

"NO! NOT THAT GUY!" Marth screamed.

"Hiya there! Is that you Marth? Maybe I'll beat you in the tournament's finals again!" The redhead exclaimed.

"Why hello there Roy. What might you be doing here?" Master Hand asked coldly.

"Huh? Oh, when you made me leave the third time I blew up the mansion, I never left. I got my camping stuff and lived in the woods outside the mansion. I saw people going into the mansion, so I joined them."

"Well, you may NOT stay. OUT," Mater Hand commanded, pointing to the front doors.

"Aww…but I want to stay and compete in the tournament!" Roy whined.

"I can't risk you blowing up the mansion again," Master Hand said before picking Roy up and tossing him out the window.

"Now that that is over, I think there is something I should explain. Roy, Pichu and the original Mewtwo-" The Mewtwo at the table let out a low growl- "All left after the previous tournament due to different problems. The original Mewtwo-" Again, Mewtwo let out a low growl- "Left because he had to return to the rest of the clones and reclaim leadership. Pichu is actually a toddler who originally came because he wanted to stay with his father, Pikachu. After the tournament, he decided that he was too little to compete and returned home to his mother. Roy, as was mentioned earlier, was…fired because he blew up the mansion three times in one year. There are two others. Dr. Mario retired as a fighter, but he continues to stay here, as a medic. Young Link…well, he was replaced by…himself. He now goes by the name "Toon Link."

"Hey, that reminds me. Pikachu, I have a surprise for you!" Ash suddenly exclaimed.

"Pika Pi?" Pikachu asked.

Ash smiled and opened his backpack. A small yellow mouse bearing a striking resemblance to Pikachu popped out.

"Pi Pi Pichu? Pi! Pichu!" The mouse squealed.

"It's Pichu!" Ash exclaimed.

"Pika Pika!" Pikachu said happily.

"You are all dismissed," Master Hand announced.

* * *

"So, Meta, what do you want to do?" Garlude asked.

The voice stirred up a recent memory from Meta Knight. _"I know I've heard that voice recently. It sounds…less vengeful somehow,"_ Meta Knight decided

"Let's go and pull some pranks!" Jecra exclaimed.

"You'll never change," Garlude sighed.

Just then, Toon Link ran up to them.

"Come on, let's go and put ketchup on the toilet seats!" Toon Link exclaimed.

"I don't think so." Zelda said walking up. "Why don't you go play some video games?"

"Okay," Toon Link said running off.

"You have video games here? The last time I played one was…before the war against Nightmare!" Jecra said excitedly. Is there a copy of Pong around here?"

"…Pong is no longer played. The kids play on newer systems that use new games," Meta Knight informed him.

"NOOOOOO! MY PRECIOUS PONG! I'LL NEVER SEE ANOTHER VIDEO GAME!"

"Video games still exist."

"Oh! Right! I'm going find a video game now. Bye," Jecra said before running off.

Garlude and Meta Knight watched Jecra disappear around a corner. "Some things never change." They said in unison.

* * *

Meta Knight sat in his room. He started looking at auras. They were still mostly blue with a few purples. There seemed to be more purples then before… There was the red he had seen before. Then he saw the red that Lucario said he had to investigate… Meta Knight started to relax, when suddenly; he heard a whisper.

"_Hey you, round puffball. Go and get Marth right now. Don't tell anyone or you'll be sorry," _the voice said.

Meta Knight tensed. Was this the voice of the one responsible for the strange happenings? He decided to report the voice to Master Hand, but the voice said: _"I know what you're thinking. Don't report me to Master Hand. Pretty please with a cherry on top?"_

"Tell me who you are," Meta Knight ordered.

_"Uh…I can't. But I can tell you that you have met me before."_

Meta Knight sighed inwardly. Somehow, he already knew who this was.

* * *

"Hi Meta Knight," Marth greeted. "Do you need me for something?"

"Actually, yes."

"Well what do you need? Dr. Mario says I can leave on my own."

"Come to my room."

"Sure. Why?"

"You will see."

Marth got off his bed and headed for the door.

"Dr. Mario fixed you up?"

"Yeah. With a very painful shot," Marth said rubbing his arm.

* * *

"So what do you need me for?" Marth asked when they got to Meta Knight's room.

"He is here," Meta Knight simply said.

_"Uh…could we have some privacy?"_

Meta Knight left the room.

Suddenly, there was a shout from inside the room.

"YOU! YOU WER-" Marth was suddenly cut off.

"Quiet! Do you want Master Hand to know that I'm here?!" A familiar voice hissed.

There was some incoherent yelling and muttering from inside Meta Knight's room. Soon, Marth left, looking very disgruntled. He didn't say anything, but shot an annoyed look at Meta Knight. Meta Knight went back into his room and went to sleep.

* * *

In the middle of the night, there was someone sneaking about. He was suddenly attacked by a small, yellow figure.

"AAAGGHHH! HELP! A PIKMIN IS TRYING TO KILL ME!" The person screamed.

Everyone that had been woken up by the scream rushed to the source of the noise, the cafeteria. Master Hand was already there. Standing before the Smashers, was a small yellow figure, with big ears and a leaf on its head. Cowering under a table was a certain redhead.

"What are you doing Bob?" Olimar asked.

"Why would you care?! ARMY OF YELLOWS! TO ME!" The Pikmin squeaked.

Hundreds of yellow leaf Pikmin swarmed the cafeteria.

* * *

**Author's Note- I'm starting to make a habit of ending chapters with cliffhangers. Bob is named after a two things:**

**1) Chuggaaconroy- he named a yellow leaf Pikmin Bob**

**2)An eraser-this is more complicated. Magikarpia and possibly JI360 will understand this. Basically, there is an eraser shaped like a dinosaur (that I HATE) named Bob. He's named after this police guy.I used to make paper clothes for him. Now I'm planning his destruction.**

**BUT WAIT! SPECIAL BONUS SCENE, COURTESY OF SPIRITWOLFE123 COMING** **UP!**(Yeah, I probably should have asked first).

"So, can I see how you work now Mr. Robot?"

"Yes. You may."

A few hours later  
ROB: Can I go now, Tails?  
Tails: Wait, I still need to check one more thing.  
ROB: D:  
*Meanwhile, Fox is on the emo corner in despair as Falco pats his back*  
Falco: Is okay, she'll come... soon I think.  
Fox: D'X

**Yeah, Spiritewolfe123 wrote that. I just found it too funny to not put in my story, but I couldn't find an opening.**


	9. Pikmin Wars

**Author's Note- This chapter might seem a bit weird, because Krazykat12 wrote a part in the beginning (Attack formation-Roy saving the day). I'm sure I had something else to say, but I forgot... Oh. now I remember (after uploading the chapter). This is my shortest chapter. It's barely 1000 words (hey, my brain is fried, don't blame me).  
**

* * *

Olimar whistled his Pikmin repeatedly, but the few that responded merely glanced at him. The Pikmin continued to attack, the sheer amount of them overwhelming the few Smashers that were there.

"Meta Knight, go and wake up the others. The rest of you, attack formation!" Master Hand commanded.

Meta Knight ran off as Lucario, Link, Zelda, Luigi and Fox prepared to fight, awaiting Master hand's command. Before Meta Knight was out of earshot, he heard Lucario telepathically hiss, "The red aura is here. The others all have purple auras."

* * *

Meta Knight dashed down the hallway, reaching the Mario wing in a few seconds. He knocked on the first door.

"Just five more minutes Peach," a slurred sleepy voice said.

Meta Knight knocked again.

"Okay, I'm coming," the voice groaned drowsily. Mario opened the door to his room and saw Meta Knight.

"What do you want?" Mario grunted in an annoyed tone.

"There is a fight going on in the cafeteria," Meta Knight grimly replied. Mario muttered something incoherent under his breath and started walking towards the cafeteria. Meta Knight repeated the process for all the other Smashers, and soon everyone was in the cafeteria.

As Meta Knight ran into the cafeteria along with Samus and Wario, it appeared that there was no need for their help. All Meta Knight saw was a huge explosion and then a bunch of yellow pikmin disappeared as little spirits. Meta Knight ran over to all the Smashers that were there and they all had the same amazed look on their face. He turned toward where the explosion came from and saw Roy standing beside the table he was previously underneath holding grenades with a maniacal grin on his face.

"Yeah! Roy saves the day!" Roy exclaimed.

"…" Everyone in the room said.

"Roy! I told you to stay out of trouble! How did you even get in here…" Marth trailed off.

"Oh, it was all thanks to this Mewtwo here! He teleported me into the mansion, and he also helped he talk to Meta Knight telepathically." Roy replied.

Everyone turned to Meta Knight. "I have no idea." He said.

"Hey, I just saved you all from all those Pikmin. I think I should be able to stay." Roy said.

"NO." Master Hand boomed.

"Wha- Why not?" Roy whimpered dejectedly.

"We could have defeated them ourselves. You left a big hole in the floor. YOU WERE NOT INVITED IN ANY WAY, SO YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO LEAVE!" Master Hand screamed, quickly losing his patience.

"You don't want me to stay? I could always blow up the mansion again and we can all go on a camping trip together," Roy offered evilly.

Master Hand's fury left him and he sighed. "Fine. You can stay, but no explosives. Snake, go and lock up all the firearms," He ordered tiredly.

* * *

Meanwhile Olimar was talking to his surviving Pikmin. "Why did you do it, Bob?" He asked.

"BECAUSE YOU ALWAYS LOVED STEVE MORE THAN ME!" The Pikmin squealed in fury. YOU ALWAYS LET HIM HAVE ALL THE NECTAR! YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR POOR LITTLE YELLOWS!"

"But I do care about you. And Steve is won't be back for a while, so all my attention will go to you," Olimar said comfortingly.

Bob said nothing, but launched himself at Olimar, clinging on and attacking him. Olimar plucked him off.

"I guess I'll just re-plant you until you're a flower," he sighed.

Suddenly, a cry went up. "BLUES! ATTACK!"

The cafeteria was once again swarming with Pikmin, but this time with blues. All the Smashers were off guard and didn't defend against the sudden ambush as well as they could have.

There was a blue flower Pikmin at the front that appeared to be the leader, his eyes glowing a strange purplish-blue. It was commanding a large group of blue leaf Pikmin.

"Smashers! Defense formation!" Master Hand commanded.

The Smashers all stood side-by-side, creating a wall and successfully blocking the Pikmin's attacks.

"Here comes another explosion!" Roy yelled, grinning like a madman.

He tossed the grenade at the Pikmin, but a purplish-blue shield blocked it and reflected it back at the Smashers, stopped in the nick of time by Falco's reflector.

Suddenly, Mewtwo appeared out of nowhere and fired a shadow ball at the Pikmin. With a BOOM, the shadow ball exploded into dark purple smoke, successfully turning most of the Pikmin into spirits.

"Thanks Mewtwo," a few Smashers panted.

Mewtwo merely turned around and walked away

The leader of the attack seemed to be fine. The purplish-blue light faded from its eyes and it fainted.

* * *

"Olimar, I need to talk to you again. Your Pikmin are causing many problems. I'm going to get Louie. Wait for me at my office in the morning." Master Hand said.

"Y-yes S-sir. C-c-can I t-take c-c-care of m-my r-remaining Pikmin?

Master Hand tensed. "Yes, but keep them locked in your room. I don't want another attack."

"Th-thank you Sir."

Olimar scurried off.

* * *

Olimar had re-planted all his yellow Pikmin, and was starting to re-plant his blue Pikmin. _"Strange," _He thought. _"The yellows put up a much greater fight."_

Where the yellows had thrashed around and attempted to murder him, the blues were letting him bury them quite easily. He decided to keep the leader for an explanation. Picking up the blue flower Pikmin, he put him in a small box with beanbags inside.

* * *

The next morning, when everyone was eating breakfast, Daisy noticed that the Smashers looked a bit sore and tired. "You guys look tired! Did we miss something?"

* * *

**Author's Note- NO CLIFFHANGER! Amazing, huh? At least I'm not risking my life with Meta Night Star. Bit of humor at the end. Eh, maybe I should have named this chapter Pikmin Revolt or Pikmin Revolution or something. Notice anything "suspicious" about this chapter? There's a huge clue, though if you haven't figured something VERY important out, it won't help much... Really, (at least to me) it was possible to solve this mystery early on. **


	10. Investigations

**Author's Note- Here's the next chapter. Sorry for the LOOOONG wait. I had no inspiration. Well, at least this chapter is extra long (over 1000 words longer than usual, it's about 2600 words). This chapter marks the start of why this story is rated T (the gore begins here, there's death, even if it isn't descriptive). This chapter seems to be both the saddest and the funniest... I honestly don't get how that works, but it's just the way it is.  
**

* * *

Master Hand floated down the hall, investigating the strange crimes. So far, none had been too serious, and he had let them go. But after the Pikmin, he had decided that he would have to look into it. He didn't have many clues. All he knew was that several people had heard a quiet, almost inaudible voice. Some had claimed that it sounded venomous and vengeful. Others had said that it was somewhat commanding, but also sad and regretful. The voice was never seen. The only thing that Master Hand could pull from this was that the culprit could turn invisible or had some way to stay unseen, and that the culprit was not a happy person. He figured that the culprit had some form of magic, as the blue Pikmin Leader's eyes had been radiating a dark power.

_"Forms of magic…aura, psychic, spells, dark power…flat out magic…Lucario and Sir Aaron can use aura…and so can that Ash kid…and Ness…but he's more of a psychic…The Pikmin looked like they were being controlled by dark magic… Mewtwo and Ganondorf…forms of magic…Zelda, Sheik in small amounts…Midna maybe…perhaps Tetra…Lucas is a psychic, but that's about it… Bella said there was an explosion of dark magic…I should go and check…"_

Master Hand was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice Olimar ahead of him. Olimar stopped in an attempt to talk to Master Hand, but Master Hand kept going and collided with Olimar. Snapping out of his thoughts, Master Hand realized that he was on top of Olimar and quickly got up, floating back into the air.

"Sorry Master Hand."

"Olimar. What are you doing here?"

"I came to talk to you about the Pikmin problem…"

"I see you have calmed down a bit. Have you dealt with your Pikmin?"

Olimar nodded "I've buried them in pots. They should become flowers soon."

"Is it safe to assume that they will not cause any more trouble when flowers?"

"I'm not sure…I guess I'll take the chance. But Master Hand, I don't think the Blues were responsible for any of this. The Leader seemed to be…possessed…"

"I too, have noticed. And I will allow you to pluck your Yellows once they grow into flowers. I must go now. I'm busy."

Olimar nodded and walked away. Master Hand continued on his way to Bella's room.

* * *

When he was at Bella's room, he knocked on the door. No answer. After knocking several more times, he realized that Bella probably wasn't in her room. Returning to his office, he considered making an announcement on the loudspeaker, but realized how likely it was that Bella was busy. Brainstorming other ways to find the source of the crimes, he realized that Lucario and Mewtwo were his best chances at finding the culprit. Ness and Lucas would have worked too, but they would probably take this as a joke, and they were too inexperienced. All that was left was to decide whether to go to Lucario or Mewtwo first. The obvious solution was to decide who was trustworthier.

_"Mewtwo has a grudge against all other living things. He believes that they think he shouldn't have been created. It is obvious that this… third Mew clone has the same feelings, if not stronger. And that scuffle with the Pikmin…I can't seem to shake the feeling that it has something to do with him. But he didn't live in the mansion when these events first started...Perhaps his powers work from afar? Lucario has never done anything wrong. I will see him first. I can try to familiarize him with all of the auras, and have him match the culprit's too one of the auras. But the culprit has no unique aura…it will simply be one of the many purples we have here…and if Lucario IS the culprit…_

Shaking off his misgivings about Lucario, he left his office in search of Lucario's room. After a LOOOOOONG time of searching he found it. Knocking on the door, he wondered if it would bear the same result as what had happened at Bella's room. His worries were justified. There was no answer. Sighing in exasperation, he went to search the mansion for Bella and Lucario.

TWO HOURS LATER.

Master Hand bobbed along wearily, fingers drooping, but in a VERY annoyed shape. He was in a mood that nobody wanted to catch him in. The search had been unsuccessful. He hadn't even found anyone who had caught so much as a glimpse of Lucario or Bella, let alone seen them. Resorting to calling them with the PA system, he returned to his office.

"WOULD LUCARIO AND THE GRAY MAGE PLEASE REPORT TO MASTER HAND'S OFFICE. LUCARIO AND THE GRAY MAGE TO MASTER HAND'S OFFICE."

Finally managing to find both Bella and Lucario, Master Hand breathed a sigh of relief. No more wild goose chases. No more hunting for missing people. After a talk with Bella and Lucario, he would go on a LOOOOONG vacation in the woods outside. Put Mario in charge of the mansion. Mario had taken care of the mansion before. Nobody caused him any trouble. Mario was well respected, unlike him. At least, he didn't _think _that Mario had any trouble. He had never bothered to find out. Though he felt somewhat bad for disturbing whatever Bella and Lucario were doing, he was just happy that he didn't have to look for them any longer. He drifted into a more comfortable and relaxing position and waited. And waited longer. And longer. He finally realized that they weren't coming. Cursing to himself, he went to personally break down their doors, drag them to his office, give them a good yelling, and maybe even assign them cleaning duties for a month. No, a year. Or longer. The one thing he knew was that he was going to make them SUFFER for setting him in a wild goose chase and bringing him all that trouble. Little did he know that soon, he would be regretting these thoughts.

* * *

Master Hand grumpily floated to Lucario's room, ready to break down the door if nobody answered. He knocked. Nobody answered. He tried to open the door. It was locked. He would really have to break down the door. Curling his body into a fist, he slammed himself against the door, and with a mighty crack, the door flew off of the hinges in several pieces. Entering the room, Master Hand saw that Lucario was asleep on his wooden bed, with the blanket underneath him.

_"Guess the fur keeps him warm,"_ Master Hand thought with a frown. _"How could he have stayed asleep through me breaking down that door?"_ With a sinking feeling that something was wrong, he approached Lucario's bed.

Lucario was unnaturally still. He didn't seem to be moving at all, not even breathing. Horrified at the body of the blue aura Pokemon, Master Hand immediately felt guilt. He had been so angry with Lucario and upset that he had spent all that time looking for him that he hadn't realized Lucario could have had an uncontrollable reason for not going to his office when he was called.

"I guess I'll just take you to Bella to be revived and..." Master Hand stopped muttering to himself when he realized that the same thing could have happened to Bella. Panic soon set in, along with fear. He didn't know what to do first. Should he alert the other Smashers or bring Lucario's body to Dr. Mario for inspection? Should he check on Bella first to make sure she wasn't dead or fatally injured as well? Master Hand's thought's soon became a flurry of chaotic choices, none seeming better than the rest. Realizing that he was staring to hyperventilate, he composed himself and properly assessed the situation.

_"Lucario's body is cold. He has been dead for a while. Whoever did this would probably have gone for Bella right after if he or she intended to kill her too...unless he or she is trying to fake me out or Lucario died of other reasons... I will go check on Bella first, better to be safe. I can get someone I see in the hall to get Dr. Mario to check Lucario's body for clues. Then I will warn the other Smashers."_

Slightly comforted by the fact that he had managed to get the situation under control, Master Hand flew as fast as he could to the guest room where Bella slept. He hadn't seen anyone in the hall, and was unable to alert Dr. Mario. Not even bothering to knock, he tried to open the door, but as he had feared, it yielded the same result as Lucario's door had. Breaking down the door, his eyes immediately flew to the bed. It was empty. Breathing a sigh of relief, he floated farther into the room. And saw Bella lying on the floor. Master Hand instantly knew that Bella was dead. Yes, the fact that Lucario was dead gave some evidence. But more so was the blood on the floor.

"No, no, no, no, no," Master Hand groaned to himself. This was possibly the worst day of his life. Never before had there been death at Smash Mansion. He would have to have the Smashers leave and go back to their own dimensions, but they were in a sealed dimension with no way out until their stay finished. That was for about two months for the guests. The tournament had been scheduled to go for a month, and the guests were to have an extra month just to be with the Smashers. And the Smashers...they were staying for at least another year. If they couldn't find the culprit, this would be a long season for the Smashers.

* * *

Flying to the infirmary to find Dr. Mario, Master Hand realized that there were a few possibilities that he could rule out. It couldn't have been any of the guests, the events had started before they had arrived, nor could it have been Subspace, for Lucario would be a trophy if it was them. It was also highly unlikely that it was Marth or Dedede, since Marth had gotten hurt and Dedede had already admitted to having done something wrong.

Reaching the infirmary, Master Hand went inside, and to his horror, saw purple smoke streaming out from under Dr. Mario's office's door. He immediately flung open the door, and was smothered by the purple smoke. Dreading what he was about to see, he fanned the smoke away.

Dr. Mario was sitting at his desk writing some kind of paper. He was wearing an oxygen mask. Noticing the smoke's disappearance, he took the oxygen mask off and looked up.

"Why hello there Master Hand. What-a do you-a want?"

"There are some...inspections I need you to do..." Master Hand began, fingers drooping. "Why was there so much smoke in your office?"

"I-a will-a go and do-a those inspections when I finish these-a papers," Dr. Mario said, returning his gaze to his papers.

Master Hand shook his head. "No, those inspections are very important. They need to be done as soon as possible. What of the smoke?"

"Alright then. I'll-a do the inspections first-a," Dr. Mario said while walking out the door.

"You're avoiding my question about the smoke."

Dr. Mario frowned. "I-a don't-a really know about the smoke. I was just-a experimenting on-a faster cures for-a eating Kirby's Smash Ball Surprise. Nobody ever wants-a to upset Kirby, but they always get-a an upset stomach that last-a for days," Dr. Mario explained, remembering the horrible stomachaches that resulted in eating Kirby's Smash Ball Surprise.

"Better to eat the meal than to be part of the meal. What were you experimenting with?"

Dr. Mario shuddered, remembering getting cooked by Kirby in his days as a Smasher. "I-a had found a strange sphere of darkness and tried to lift it up. It exploded, and I-a couldn't find-a the door amidst all the smoke. Good thing I keep emergency supplies here," Dr. Mario replied gazing fondly around his office.

"Dark sphere... I'll look into that. For now, do a check on Lucario and The Gray Mage. They are...in a certain condition. Go to their rooms and you will see." Master Hand said grimly. "Write me a report on anything you find."

Dr. Mario muttered darkly under his breath about "too many reports".

* * *

The next morning, Master Hand saw an envelope on his desk. He drowsily started to wonder why he even had a desk, since they were of little to no use to him. Picking up the envelope, he opened it to find the report that he had asked Dr. Mario to write.

_To Master Hand-__  
I see why you needed me to write that report so urgently. It seems that they both died in different ways. Lucario was markless, not a sign of violence on him. Not even any string, or fur, or fingerprints. I suspect magic, but can not be sure. His room bore no sign of a struggle. Whoever killed him did a clean job, unless he exerted his aura willfully. If that is what he did, I have no clue why he did it.  
The Gray Mage was a similar, yet different case. She too, was clean, except for a single slash on the back of her neck. Her room also bore no sign of a struggle. The only mark on her was the cut, and I was unable to find any evidence to who killed her.  
It seems that the two murders are connected, but other than being clean and completely devoid of clues, they appear to bear no connection.  
-Dr. Mario_

Master Hand frowned. This wasn't much help. In fact, it just made it harder to determine who the culprit was. Unless it was someone who used both magic and some kind of blade... Ganondorf! He had a sword and was able to use magic- dark magic. Now he could just go and lock him up and everything would be fine! But first, he would have to inform Sir Aaron of Lucario's death. He would confront Ganondorf before he announced the deaths, just so that Ganondorf wouldn't realize that he had been found out. Flying somewhat quickly towards the guest teleporters, he slowed down when he saw Dr. Mario chasing him.

"Master Hand-a, I-a have something important to tell-a you. From-a what-a I-a saw, my best-a guess is Ganondorf. But-a I-a just went-a to-a do a little thinking on-a this and I-a realized something very important!"

"What is it Dr. Mario? You know I'm not a morning person, and I have to tell Sir Aaron. He and Lucario were very close."

"There is now extreme evidence to who the murderer is!"

* * *

**Author's Note- CLIFFHANGER! (Again) This chapter probably didn't make any sense... And don't blame me for using cliffhangers. It keeps you guys reading AND gives me inspiration to write more. Eh, I really pictured the death horribly. Please review! Oh, and by the way, do any of you know how to make the text stick to the right side? I have to write directly on Doc Manager, but I can't figure out how to shift it to the left (just putting a bunch of spaces doesn't word, it automatically zooms it back to the left). I wanted to put the -Dr. Mario to the right, but it won't work...  
**


	11. Round 1, BEGIN!

**Author's Note- At least you didn't have to wait too long for the cliffhanger to be solved... I'm SURE I had something really important to say here... I can't seem to remember... If I remember, I'll put it into the next chapter, or maybe even make a chapter just to tell you guys what I have to tell you but forgot... Oh, and this chapter is longer than usual (again) over 2500 words!**

* * *

"There-a were-a notes in their-a rooms!"

"And you didn't realize this before?!" Master Hand's voice was filled with rage.

"No! I-a was just-a doing a re-check on their-a rooms, and I-a found it on the floor-a in plain-a sight!"

"Of course! Ganondorf went back to the crime scene as is typical for murderers, and left notes there!" Master Hand's voice dripped with sarcasm, enough to make Dr. Mario back away.

"N-n-n-no! It's-a not-a like-a that! I-a swear that-a the note-a wasn't there-a yesterday!"

"You're making me think that you're the murderer, or at least Ganondorf's accomplice."

"But-a I-a don't think-a it-a was Master Hand anymore!"

"You don't think it was him because you know it was him."

"No! It-a was the notes! They-a both said-a something about-a starting revenge! Ganondorf has-a nothing against-a anybody that-a is this-a strong! Other than-a Link of course..."

"You're right. And I don't really think that you're the murderer. You seem innocent enough. Do you know anyone that has a grudge against Lucario or the Gray Mage?"

"Mewtwo might-a have-a something against-a Lucario for-a replacing him-a from the last tournament..."

"But this is a different Mewtwo. But perhaps he knows about the replacement..."

Dr. Mario nodded. "Red-a may-a have-a told-a him though."

"Perhaps... Should we discuss this in private? I don't want anyone overhearing us."

"Okay. Would-a you like-a to-a see-a the notes?

"Yes. I presume they are in your office?"

Dr. Mario nodded vigorously. "I'm-a sure-a that I-a didn't mess up this time! They-a are-a on my desk."

"Then you return to your office and get the notes out. I will inform Sir Aaron about Lucario's death and see you at your office in about ten minutes."

"Okay. I-a think I may-a have lost-a them anyway..."

"What was that?"

"Uh... Nothing! I-a will-a go and get-a those-a notes now!"

Master Hand turned continued on his way to the guest room teleporters to find Sir Aaron.

* * *

When Master Hand arrived at the teleporters, he quickly found the one connected to Sir Aaron's room. He hovered above it and activated the teleporter.

Arriving in Sir Aaron's room, he found that it was empty.

_"Oh boy. Not a repeat of yesterday's gong-show. Why do I always have to be the one in charge?" _Master Hand thought groaning.

Fuming with anger, Master Hand left the room to call Sir Aaron via PA system. Suddenly, he stopped, noticing how things were playing out exactly as what had happened yesterday. He started to panic, thinking that he would somehow find Sir Aaron dead as well.

_"Master Hand. What is the problem?"_

"Who's there?! Are you the murderer? What did you do to Sir Aaron?!"

A faint blue figure slowly started to appear, solidifying into a man with black hair in a blue tunic. His hands glowed with aura.

"Sir Aaron? What were you doing?" Master Hand asked carefully.

"I was practicing. Aura is your essence. It is your physical form and what anchors you to this world. If one loses all aura, they leave this world. But if one is able to control aura to the point of having it vanish without dispersing it, they are able to become unseen, and travel to the afterlife without perishing. That person would be a true master of aura."

"You are an aura master?"

"No. I am barely able to sustain vanished aura. There has only ever been one true aura master."

Master Hand nodded. "I haven't come simply for the pleasure of talking to you. There is something I must tell you. It is about Lucario. He was murdered.

Sir Aaron smiled faintly. "I know. It is my turn to seek him and his turn to wait for me."

Master Hand frowned. "You already know? Who told you?"

"Nobody. His aura went missing."

"You can detect aura?" Master Hand exclaimed, suddenly enthusiastic.

"Yes. I was Lucario viewed me as a mentor, though in reality, we were friends. If I am to guess correctly, you want me to do an aura check. I will have to familiarize myself with all the other auras first."

"Yes, of course... I'll just have to assemble the Smashers and the guests... Is after lunch an okay time for you?"

"Of course. But is that not when the tournament begins?"

"GAH! THERE'S TOO MUCH TO DO AROUND HERE!"

"Don't worry, I can start familiarizing with the aura after the first match."

"Alright. I guess I shouldn't panic over everything. I'll see you after the first match."

Sir Aaron nodded and disappeared.

* * *

Once he was back in his office, Master Hand checked the time. He had half an hour before the first match of the tournament began. Scanning his desk, he saw the notes that Dr. Mario had told him about. He picked up the first note and started to read it:

_This is to whoever discovers it. All of you are idiots, carefree  
and clueless of true pain. Or at least some of you are,  
__especially him. My revenge has started, and he will  
pay for what he has done, along with the rest of you. It  
will not hurt him if it targets him alone. Hurting the ones_  
_he cares for is what will truly cause him pain. I have felt  
this pain. So has he. He will be unable to stop me, for it  
will cause him more pain. The rest of you will be helpless.  
You will all be killed off, starting with the ones capable of_  
_solving these crimes, followed by the ones he cares for  
the most. He swore he would never care for anyone enough  
that their loss would bring him pain, and yet he has broken  
that oath. I always had something to tell him, and yet he  
never got the message. It is too late now. I will not allow him  
to die, in any way. That will end his pain. He hurt me more  
than anyone could ever imagine.  
__My revenge has begun. There is no escaping it._

After reading the note, Master Hand was thoroughly frightened. This person wasn't stupid. They knew how to inflict pain. They were not insane. They had purpose, and were going to stay true to it until it was accomplished, and it _would_ be accomplished. The entire residence of the mansion would fall, starting with "him". Who was this "him" anyway? It was as if the note was intentionally cryptic, but there was a spell on it causing it to have an air of important, and seem like the one and only truth. Deciding not to let his mind dwell on the first note, Master Hand continued to the second one:

_You've probably read the first note, the one on Lucario. He would  
have been able to expose me faster than anyone else, with his  
__aura control already familiarized with half the people here. He had to  
die first. This was for the Gray Mage. She would have been able to revive  
__every person I killed, reversing every bit of pain. But you are wrong to  
think that there is no way to get them back, that bringing back  
the dead is an art lost forever. There is still one person able to do  
that, but only with a great sacrifice. That final person is me.  
My revenge has begun. There is no escaping it.  
_

After finishing the second note, Master Hand knew that there was no stopping this person's revenge. It was too powerful. Nobody, Smasher or Guest, would survive this, with only the exception of the mysterious "him" who would continue to live, of perhaps be forced to live in eternal pain. He would never die here. In this dimension Master Hand had brought the Smashers too, time essentially stopped. They would continue to have all necessities, but they would never age. And whoever wanted to inflict this pain would not let "him" die in any way, ever. Someone was about to go into eternal torture, without any physical pain. He had gone through it before, according to the first note, but this time, he would have nobody to help him get over it.

Looking at the clock, Master Hand realized that it was almost time for the first round of the tournament. He went to the PA system's announcer and began speaking into it:

**"Welcome, Smashers and Guests! It is time for the first round of the tournament to begin! As it is the first match of the first round, I will explain the rules: The only items allowed are smash balls, as they are part of the competitors' arsenal of attacks. Smash balls will _always_ be on, no matter what. For some fun, and so that Smashers can fight with their guests, the matches will all be different. It could be a simple one-on-one, or it could be an uneven three-on-one! If someone is in a three-on-one match, the person who is alone will have five lives where the others will only have one. In a two-against-one, the person with no teammates will have three lives when the others only have one. It is a single elimination tournament, so if you lose, you're out for good! If you do not wish to fight, you may come to me and tell me. Tails has already opted out of fighting. Everyone but Dinky Kong and Funky Kong has arrived, so let the tournament begin! The first match is a three-for-all! The competitors will be Red, Ash, and Joshua. By special request, they will be having a three way pokemon battle, but if one of their pokemon faints, they won't be able to continue! If just one Pokemon, faints, the entire team is down! Switching is allowed, but damage gets carried on. Red, Ash and Joshua, please report to the teleportation room. if you don't know the way, then ask for help. The battle will be at Pokemon Stadium 2, and begins in 15 minutes.  
**

Going to the teleportation room himself, he floated above the teleporter to Pokemon Stadium 2. When he had teleported to the stadium, he floated up across the cotton folding seats and entered the announcer's podium, where he would have a clear view of the match to alert any problems. After a few minutes, he saw the other fighters starting to appear in the stadium and finding seats. Soon, Ash, Red and Joshua appeared on the stage, and he prepared to begin the match. Red sent out his Squirtle, Ash sent out Snivy and Joshua sent out his Vaporeon.

**"Why look at this folks! Ash has an advantage against both Red and Joshua! Does anyone have a prediction on how this will turn out? Battle... BEGIN!"**

"Vaporeon, fire a water gun, up in the air."

Vaporeon did as Joshua commanded and was covered by its own water gun, promptly disappearing.

Red decided to ignore Vaporeon and focused his attacks on Snivy, commanding Squirtle to use Skull Bash on Snivy.

"Snivy! Dodge and use vine whip!"

Snivy obeyed and grabbed Squirtle in the middle of his skull bash, smashing him into the ground. Snivy and Squirtle continued with their battle, their trainers almost forgetting that Joshua and his Vaporeon were still in the battle. They became so immersed that they didn't notice the smash ball that appeared, but Joshua did.

"Vaporeon! Quick attack that smash ball twice, then tail whip it open!"

Vaporeon leapt into the air, charging through the glowing sphere. After doing it twice, it slowed down and and held still for a second before slapping its lithe blue tail into the smash ball, cracking it open and spilling its energy over Vaporeon.

"Yeah! Great job Vaboreon, do you mind if I switch you out? I want to use Tayl's final smash..."

"Vay, Vaporeon! (**no problem!**)"

Returning Vaporeon to her poke-ball, Joshua released Tayl the Sylveon from her poke-ball.

"Okay Tayl, time for your final smash!"

"SYLVEON! MY BOWS ARE MADE OF FLESH!"

Red and Ash suddenly realized that they weren't alone, but it was too late- Tayl had already begun attacking. Jumping left and right in an unpredictable pattern, Tayl ran up to Squirtle and started yelling: "SUGAR! SMASH BALLS HAVE SUUUUUUGAAAAAAAAAAR! I LIKE SUGAR!" Squirtle was blown off his feet and fainted.

Bounding up to Snivy, Tayl crashed into her and knocked her off the stage, but Snivy grabbed onto the ledge with her vines. The second she stepped onto the stage, Tayl was in front of her, knocking her back off the stage again, but this time, it was too far for Snivy to recover. Calming back down to her slightly less hyperactive self, Tayl returned to her poke-ball as Joshua celebrated the victory.

**"What an interesting match! The stage didn't even have time to transform! Joshua had his Vaporeon evade while the others fought and took damage, then used his Sylveon for a final smash! And what a final smash that was! Extremely powerful! It seems that his Sylveon's final smash makes it go super hyper! Everyone may now leave, but I want you all to meet at the cafeteria once you have exited. Try not to hurt anyone leaving, please exit as orderly as you can."  
**

* * *

Once he had managed to leave the stadium Master Hand went to the cafeteria. Everyone seemed to have assembled there, save for the few who didn't go to watch the match. He took a seat and began the meeting.

"Thank you all for coming. I would like to apologize for the excessive amounts of meetings we've been having lately, but there have been some strange crimes happening. Would Sir Aaron please stand up?"

Nobody stood.

"I don't think Sir Aaron is here..." someone commented.

Master Hand sighed. "I guess I'll have to go find him. Wait here. I'm going to go and get the other Smashers here too."

Master Hand left the table and floated down the hall to the teleporters. He floated above the one to Sir Aaron's room and activated the teleporter.

* * *

**Author's Note- OH MY GOSH! THERE ISN'T A (big) CLIFFHANGER. AMAZING! Well, you all know what this means! No update for a month! (Well, that's what happened last time there was no cliffhanger...) Yes, I know that pokemon can't talk, but Tayl did. She's special. More on that later. Bolded in brackets is a pokemon translation. Oh, and by the way, Joshua is someone on this site (who I love to annoy) and Tayl is Magikarpia. I still can't remember what I had to tell you guys... Well, anyway, please review!  
**


	12. Meeting

**Author's Note- Somewhat short chapter. And there's a SPECIAL SURPRISE waiting for you guys at the end. Especially if you hate cliffhangers. Anyway, I now have an account that I share with Krazykat12. It's called Katassassins. There will be a story there after a while, but for me, this story is currently first-priority. This chapter is mostly ANOTHER meeting, but there's other stuff. Quite a few clues. And I still can't remember what I forgot in the last chapter... Oh well.  
**

* * *

Master Hand was teleported to Sir Aaron's room which was again, empty.

"Sir Aaron! I need you to begin familiarizing yourself with the auras!" Master Hand called out.

Nobody answered.

"Sir Aaron, come out. I don't want to play games with you."

Still, nobody answered.

Master Hand continued to call out for Sir Aaron, and yet he already knew what had happened, even if he refused to accept the truth. He would search for him until he found him, and he would only accept the truth when he saw Sir Aaron's dead body. Groping around with his hand (or body) he felt an invisible figure. Lifting it up, he carried it to his office and placed it on the floor of his room. He then went to the command center of the PA system and called another announcement:

**This is a very important message. All Smashers and Guests are to report to the cafeteria _immediately_. There has been another crime, but it has become very serious. All Smashers and Guests to the cafeteria. Thank you.**

Pinking Sir Aaron's body back up, Master Hand floated to the cafeteria and placed it on the table where all the Smashers had gathered.

"Is everyone here?"

There were murmurs of "I think so" and "yes".

"Then I shall begin. As you all know strange things have been happening in Smash Mansion. Yesterday, Lucario and the Gray Mage were muredered. I will talk about them in greater detail at a later point. Today, when I was looking for Sir Aaron, I found his dead body. But it was invisible. Does anyone have a way to see things that cannot be seen?"

There were many frightened murmurs, and many people looked at Master Hand as if he was insane for inviting them to the mansion.

Hesitantly, Red raised his hand. "In my travels, I heard of something called a Devon Scope, which allows the user to see the unseen..."

"I think I have one! Ash exclaimed. Professor Oak was keeping it for me, but I can just ask for him to send it to me! Hold on a second..." He said as he took out his Pokedex and called Professor Oak.

Professor Oak's voice started coming out of the Pokedex: "Why hello there Ash. How has the tournament been going?"

"It's been great Professor! I got to see Pikachu again, and I met a lot cool people! There were a few Pokemon trainers too! But I lost in the first round... There was a really powerful Sylveon..." Ash dipped his head.

"Why, I'm sure you will have many more chances at tournaments like these, you might even be invited to the next one!"

Master Hand coughed. "Could you please take this outside, Ash? We have something important to discuss."

"Oh yeah..." Uh, Professor, I need my Devon Scope. Something happened and we need to see the unseen."

"Alright then, Ash. It will be over in a minute."

"Thanks Professor. Master Hand, do you mind if I go outside to talk to Professor Oak?"

"Go ahead, Ash," Master Hand sighed. "I'll have someone fill you in later."

"Thanks Master Hand." Ash walked out of the cafeteria. "Oh, and here's the Devon Scope!" Ash said, popping his head and arm through the doorway he had just left through. He tossed the Devon Scope to Master Hand, who caught it and began inspecting it.

"Red, do you know how this works?"

"I think. You point it in the direction where you want to reveal something, then you push the button and if there's something there, it'll be revealed."

Master Hand gave the Devon Scope to Red. You do it. You seem to understand it the most."

Pointing the Devon Scope at the table, Red pushed the button, and Sir Aaron's body slowly appeared. Soon, he was completely visible. Suddenly, a Pikmin appeared in the middle of the table and dramatically yelled:

"You have SEEN the UNSEEN! But, you can UN-SEE it, because you saw it with the DEVON SCOPE! And I, saw, the murders, happen! There was a blade and magic! I will never be able to UN-SEE it, because I didn't SEE it with the DEVON SCOPE! MWAHAHAHAHA!" And as quickly as it had appeared, the Pikmin disappeared.

"The hell?" Falco muttered.

Everyone stared at the spot where the Pikmin had appeared.

Master Hand would have blinked if he could. "Uh... Well... Er... What was that?..." Master Hand had apparently lost all composure. "Olimar, have you been letting your Pikmin lose?"

Olimar's eyes were comparable to beach balls. "No..."

"Well then... As I was saying... Does anyone know anything about this murder?"

"The Pikmin guy said there was a blade and magic. Who can use both?" Ganondorf grunted.

All eyes turned to him. "You."

"Exactly."

"You're admitting that you are the murderer?" Master Hand asked slowly, as if he didn't really know what was happening.

"Yep."

"Mario, Link, take him to the dungeons and lock him up."

"Okay."

As Link and Mario took Ganondorf to the dungeons, Master Hand was sure that he saw a smirk on Ganondorf's face. Pushing the idea away as imagination, he continued to address the Smashers.

"You need not tell me anything now. If you ever come across something that may help, bring it to me immediately. You are dismissed. Dr. Mario, I need you to inspect Sir Aaron."

With that, Master Hand turned around to leave the table. "Oh, I almost forgot. Joshua, here's your first round victory ribbon."

Joshua looked at his ribbon. "It says "first round victory- Joshud" My name is spelled with an "A" at the end, not a "D".

"Oh well, guess you'll have to deal with it, eh JOSHUD?" Fox teased.

Joshua slammed his hands onto the table.

"Hey, how does your Sylveon talk, anyway? I know a Meowth that can talk, but he trained himself for years," Ash asked

Josh scratched his head. "I don't know. She appeared in my Poke-Ball like that. And she just randomly spawned in my Poke-Ball too..."

Ash grinned. "Well, mystery of the Sylveon, huh?"

"I guess."

* * *

Dr. Mario walked into his office. He sighed. Another inspection, another report. He sat down to finish the one for the exploding sphere. Someday, he would file a false report for Master Hand. Day in, day out. He never even got a sincere thank-you.

_"Yes..." _A silky voice purred. _"When has anyone ever given you the attention you deserve? Everyone likes Mario. Not Dr. Mario. Luigi gets more attention than you, and he wrote a novel about himself- about being overshadowed. You should do something to show them how you feel..."  
_

"Who's-a there?" Dr. Mario yelped. But he got no reply.

Shaking his head, Dr. Mario returned to his work. "I'm only noticed when I'm needed..." he mumbled.

* * *

Outside the mansion, in the HUGE backyard, Roy, Lucas, Ness, Claus and Toon Link were playing together. They were playing dare-tag. Everyone had a piece of cloth. If the cloth was stolen, they were subjected to a dare. As they chased each other around Claus tripped. Running up to him, Ness snatched his cloth.

"I get to give you a dare, Claus! I dare you to go into The Forest!"

Claus laughed. "That's and easy one!"

"But you have to go DEEP into the forest."

"Easy!"

"No! You can't, Claus! It's dangerous!" Lucas fretted.

"Don't worry Lucas! I'll be fine!"

Lucas whimpered. "But I won't know what to do if you get lost, or die!"

"Don't worry, I'll be fine!" Claus repeated.

He turned around and walked into the forest, increasing his speed as he got closer to the forest.

"He might get hurt, and it'll all be your fault!" LUcas glared accusingly at Ness.

"Don't worry, he'll be fine. I promise," Ness comforted.

"Who will be fine?" A voice suddenly asked.

Toon Link looked up. "Oh, hi Garlude. Claus will be fine. Ness dared him to go into the forest."

"What?" Garlude exclaimed, suddenly alert. "That forest is dangerous! I have to go and get him back out, right away. Stay here, and don't you DARE follow me into the forest."

* * *

Claus walked through the forest, wet grass soaking his shoes. He shivered. This wasn't as easy as he thought it would be... A sudden growl made him jump, and he started to really be afraid. Lucas wasn't just being his usual sissy self when he had warned him not to go into the forest. Continuing along the the overgrown trail he was using as a guide, he wondered if he had gone deep enough. Then he heard voices.

_"-will be able to destroy-."_

Claus was unable to catch the last few words.

_"Yes, and after that, we will be able to continue complete her goal."_

_"These must be the murderers!" _Claus realized. Creeping forward, he was able to hear them more clearly. _"I think there is someone watching us."_ One of the voices said. As soon as the idea that he should run reached Claus' mind, he was slashed from the side. Collapsing on the forest floor, he prayed that someone would find him.

* * *

_A somewhat small figure crept through the shadows. Phase one had been completed. There was nobody who could detect who she was. She had others to her cause, those who had been misunderstood and mistreated. Together, they would find happiness. They would find peace when never before had they truly known what it felt like. Perhaps they had, but it had always been for such a small amount of time that it would have given them a glimpse of what t hey could have had. They had felt those feelings more than anyone. Some claimed to have been so hurt, to have so much pain that they would never care again. But they had never known the pain that their little "group" had to face. Especially HIM. She had always liked him. He had cared for her, and made her like him in such a way that losing him would have caused her pain-yes, almost everything that had happened to her involved pain. She should have been immune to it...but she wasn't. Every loss was as bad as the last. But the one time she had felt too much... It was all HIS fault. She had never had the heart to hurt him, but when she was suddenly given an eternity to think about it, she knew he would pay. There was no going back._

_"Ganondorf. Is all going as planned?"_

_"Yes. Those fools never suspected a thing."_

_"I have some good news. There is another possible candidate to join our organization. He will need some time for testing though."  
_

_"Excellent."_

* * *

**Author's Note- GASP! I'VE OUTDONE MYSELF! TWO CLIFFHANGERS IN ONE CHAPTER?! I'M GOING TO GET MURDERED IN MY SLEEP! The Devon Scope thing with the Pikmin was just a reference. To a certain Youtuber called Chuggaaconroy. I don't like this chapter much... but oh well. The parts with lots of italic writing are okay. Oh, and by the way, Josh, yes, I included the Joshud joke. And I might include a Papaman joke too. Yeah, this chapter has a lot of clues... And I can't shake the feeling that I forgot something AGAIN. Anyway, please review! I've been lacking ones from normal viewers who aren't my friends lately...  
**


	13. PAPAMANMON!

**Author's Note- GAAAAAHHH! Readers, I'm warning you now: This chapter is AWFUL. It's so filler, and yet, so much important stuff happens in it! If you ahven't guessed yet, I have major Writer's Block. It sucks. Anyway, this chapter is inside jokes galore.  
**

* * *

_"I have been doing some research, and it appears there are a few more people we must eliminate before phase one is complete. And you-" the figure said, looking at the only human in the group-"will have someone very familiar to you join us soon. He is also a human."_

_A large creature spoke: "Do you mean that there are guests with the ability to find out who we are?"_

_"Yes. I have to go now. But I still can't believe that you killed the little guy. He was so innocent... Poor Garlude will have a hard time bringing him back to the mansion..." The person speaking smirked.  
_

_"He might not die. He could survive."  
_

_"After he had his life force drained? Whatever. I'll be leaving."_

* * *

Joshua was feeding his Pokemon with Ash and Red. Even though he had beat both of them in the first round of the tournament, they were still friends. Ash, carefree and outgoing had asked Joshua if he wanted to be his friend, and since Josh didn't have many friends, he said yes. Red was just happy to have more Pokemon trainers in the mansion. Currently, they were playing a game from Josh's hometown called "Legends of Facepalmia". Soon, Ash began complaining that his face hurt, and since slapping yourself in the face does hurt quite a bit, they decided to do something else.

"I found a really cool site where you can create your own Pokemon..." Red suggested.

"Then let's try it."

Soon, Josh, Ash and Red were on the site. They worked on creating the ULTIMATE Pokemon. It was shaped like a griffin, but it wore glasses and had a VERY derpy face. Its only attack was suicide, which *GASP* KOed the user without doing any damage to the enemy. It was BETTER THAN MAGIKARP! The, they added the Pokemon description: "Papamanmon doesn't do much. It's wings are useless, and it just sits around all day. It is lazier than Snorlax, but it has one special ability: It can speak human languages, though it usually just yells its own name, Thunderquaza, and Novaquaza. But, before it becomes useless, it will follows three commands."

"What should we name it?" Ash asked.

"Derpmon?..."

"I GOT IT!" Josh screamed. "PAPAMANMON! Papaman for short."

"Uh... Great name..." Ash typed the name into the "name" box, afraid of hurting Josh's feelings if he told him it was a bad name.

"I know! It's the PERFECT name!"

Ash grinned. "I think this is the PERFECT Pokemon. Your opponent will be laughing so hard, they'll lose the match!"

"Yup. Hey, there's something on the bottom right corner that says "use". Click on it, Red."

"Are you sure that's a good idea, Josh?" Whatever, I'll just click it. Shouldn't do any harm..."

Red clicked the button.

Suddenly, a brilliant flash of light illuminated the room. As the light faded, a griffin-like figure was seen in the center of the room. The creature spoke:

"You are my creators. I will follow three commands of yours."

"Uh... Maybe just tell us things that will help us?..." Ash suggested.

"I guess the "use" button creates your Pokemon in real life... But sure, hints to life will be good." Josh said.

Red nodded in agreement.

"You waste your three commands quickly. You cannot go back on them, and though it is too late to change them, you should know that I can do anything, even if I can only do it once. Giving advice is an exception, because you all have different destinies."

"Are you going to follow our commands?"

"Yes. Ash. Your doom comes closer by the second. There is no going back. Joshua. You have more friends than you think. Those who appear to wish you nothing but harm... Look deeper. Give another chance. Though you are often alone, more people care for you than you think. Red..." The Papamanmon's face grew solemn. " Though I have just come into existence in your world, I understand loss, and being misunderstood. You have a great loss coming, and soon, you will find yourself, once again, alone. Do not try to forget the loss, let it remain with you always, but remember: You must move on. There will always be someone out there, who will give you comfort. Stay true to what you know, and when you are falsely accused, know that you still have your honour."

All three Pokemon Trainers considered their piece of advice.

"I must leave now. I must return to my true master. If I did no have one... Then I would be sitting here and yelling "THUNDERQUAZA!" I'm very glad that I have one... Goodbye." And with that, the griffin yelled "PAPAMANMON!" and disappeared.

"That was certainly... interesting..."

"Josh, you really have to stop stating the obvious."

"Don't be mean to him, Red."

* * *

That afternoon, Josh ate lunch alone. Red and Ash had gone to train, but he himself wasn't in the mood. He was still thinking about what the Papamanmon had said. Specifically what it had said to Ash and Red. It seemed like something was about to happen to Ash, and Red would be involved, but he would be on the sidelines. What was going to happen?

Jecra sat down next to Josh. "Have you heard what happened in the forest?" He asked.

"Um... I don't think I really know you, but no, I don't know what happened in the forest..."

"Well apparently, Claus, you know, that little guy? Well, he went into the forest and got attacked! Garlude found him, and brought him to Dr. Mario, and apparently, he's injured pretty badly! Bye now!"

Jecra ran off, leaving Josh wondering what had happened. _"Maybe I should see what happened..."  
_

Finishing the rest of his bread-sandwich, a delicious sandwich featuring a slice of bread within two slices of bread, he got up to see what had happened. But when he got up, he didn't go in the direction of the First-Aid room. He went back to the pantry to get more bread. Those bread sandwiches were too good to resist.

* * *

"Is Claus okay, Master Hand?"

"I don't know, Garlude. It isn't the slash on his side, though it is worrisome. The whole reason I'm being the doctor instead of Dr. Mario is the reason that he probably won't survive. Somehow, he seems drained of life. This actually matches many of the other clues- there are both blades and magic involved."

"Alright then. Is there anything I can do to help?"

"No, I don't think so." Master Hand made a fist in frustration. "All I need is and Aura-user! And whoever the culprit is was smart enough to kill them all!"

Garlude smiled, though it was an odd smile. The kind you have when you've been working at something- not necessarily good- for a long time, and you finally succeeded. It wasn't at all a kind smile.

"Why are you smiling, Garlude?"

Garlude blinked in surprise, as if she'd forgotten Master Hand was there. "Huh? Oh, uh... No reason. Actually, a big reason. I was talking to some newcomers, and I think there's one Aura-user left."

Master Hand was ecstatic. "Really?! Who?!"

"That Ash kid. The Pokemon Trainer who was knocked out in the first round."

"Okay. Can you bring him to me before he gets killed too?"

"Of course." Garlude promptly left.

* * *

"So, what do you want?" Ash asked.

"I heard that you can use aura."

"No, not really. I can exert my own aura, though. Besides, isn't that "Meta Knight" guy able to use aura too?"

Master Hand sighed. "At least _try_ to see aura, okay? And for as for Meta Knight, his aura powers disappeared when Lucario died. Unfortunate as it is, I think Lucario may have been enhancing his abilities."

"Um... Alright then... I guess I'll try... So what do I do?"

"You must close your mind to all thought, and open your senses to new things"

"Er... Okay... Guess I'll try it... Oh wow! There are a bunch of blue lights, and a few purples! What are they?"

"I'm surprised you were able to do this so quickly. Most go through years of training. I suspect this has to do with sharing your aura with Lucario, and having exerted it before. Are you sure there are no reds or strange, glowing pearlescent auras that disappear upon scrutiny?"

"Uh... Nope. Nothing like that at all."

Master Hand was extremely disappointed. "You can go now, Ash."

"Uh... okay..." Ash left the room, bewildered with Master Hand's strange behavior.

* * *

**Author's Note- Ugh. That was AWFUL. It took me about a MONTH to write that much, when I usually write double this much in a WEEK. And the amount of inside jokes there wasn't even funny. About half the chapter is an inside joke. Those three messages. Anyway, With Papamanmon's three messages, Ash and Red's were foreshadowing. Josh's was... well... It's kind of a Life-Lesson. And it DOES connect to the REAL Josh who reads this... I think... Anyway, please review, it's those precious slivers of the most valuable material in the world that keeps me going. Oh, and the goal before I post again is 90 reviews.  
**


	14. Sadness Defeated

**Author's Note: Sorry for the tremendously long wait... I had writer's block. But anyway, I have something interesting to tell you...specifically Cloak192 and Nightshade. THE SPOILER WAS FALSE! HAHAHA! I TRICKED YOU ALL! Anyway, Cloak192 did NOT get it right! It was a test to see who would go and peek! This chapter is...long, to say the least. It's more than 4,500 words long. So in return for the wait, I present you with an extra long chapter, which I think is my best writing so far. You know how everything looks like it's an "action" paragraph? Well, most of it is talking. But there's a lot of stuff around the actual three words that the person says. Now without any more free cheap words, let the chapter begin!  
**

* * *

Lucas ran down a random hallway, tears streaming down his face and splattering all over the shiny, pristine tiles that made the floor below him. He didn't really know where he was anymore. He had gotten lost in the mansion. He didn't care though. Nothing would ever be right again. Actually, just a few minutes ago, he had been happy. He hadn't even known that Claus was injured, as Master Hand, and everyone else, had simply told him that Claus was fine, and it was just a minor injury. He was barely nervous about Claus getting hurt. And added to that, he had just won his second round match against the Ice Climbers, and it had been a near scrape. When he was blasting himself back with PK Thunder, he had accidentally hit a wall, but Popo had jumped down to try and get in the final attack for Lucas' last life, all the while being screamed at by Nana. Nana's concerns were justified, as Popo had barely missed their jump and he had bounced off of him. They had all been on their last life. When Popo was had lost his last life, Nana quickly vanished, and all three of them were teleported back to the teleportation room.

But all that happiness and excitement was gone now. Soon after the match, he had received news that had torn him apart. Yes, this had happened before. Twice, in fact. When he was barely nine, his mother had died. Then, his twin brother, Claus, went missing. And only three years later, he had watched Claus die. But Claus had returned. At first, he wasn't sure about his invitation to this fighting group. But they had brought Claus back, and that was all he would ever need to trust them. But within a week of Claus' revitalization, Claus had died again. And he didn't even know why. It would have been fine, if he could have turned into a trophy. But what killed him wasn't Dark Matter. And Ms. Bella, the Gray Mage, was also dead. Claus wasn't coming back. He was gone forever. Just the thought of the Gray Mage brought more tears to his eyes. She had always been so nice to him... Just like Hinawa. She had even made him Omelettes once. They had been delicious, perfectly fried with cheese, ham, and a touch of mushroom. After Bella had died, he felt like he had lost his mother again. Then Claus had died as well.

A fresh wave of tears sprung free from his eyes, leaving a trail of tears behind him. He didn't know how long he had been running, and though he had been running for quite a while, he didn't notice. He was too numb with sadness to care, or even notice. For some reason though, he was angry; just sad. It simply wasn't in his nature to be mad at someone. He continued running down the hall, crying all the while. It was as if he was trying to run away from all his sadness. Soon, his well of tears had run dry. Not a single drop left. He stopped for a moment, finally realizing that he was out of breath. Lucas sniffled, and panted for breath. Running and crying for such a long time had left him out of breath, and all the weariness hit him in a huge wave. He stumbled, then tumbled over. When he sat back up, his immediate thought refilled his tear-well that had been empty only a few moments ago. _That's exactly what would happen every time Claus and I used to play together and he got too rough! I always fell in the same way!_ For a second, Lucas stopped crying, lost in happy memories. That tiny moment was lost when he remembered his Hinawa. In a second, he started crying again. The crying wasn't loud, or trying to get any attention at all. It was quite quiet. The tears only flowed from sadness, nothing else. Not like Toon Link's crying, which was usually to get Link or Zelda to do something for him. And the sheer purity of Lucas' crying is what brought it to Garlude's attention.

* * *

Garlude was just walking down a hallway. She honestly didn't know which one it was. She was too lost in thought. Anyway, she always managed to find her way back to an area that she knew. The mansion was well linked, and every hallway was connected to dozens of others. The mansion was big. Really big. But somehow, it always managed to stay clean. She had been mindlessly walking around, thinking, and contemplating things, when she had found a trail of clear liquid. She guessed that it was water that someone had spilled, and didn't notice, since it was really long, but it was just a guess, and she didn't want to make any assumptions. Eventually, the trail and dwindled off, then ended, leading her to realize that the person had realized their water bottle was leaking. She went back to thinking, but soon pulled out a photo. It was from her days as a Galaxy Soldier. She was only one amongst legions of Galaxy Soldiers. She was never able to become what she had wanted to be; a Star Warrior. She hadn't _always_ wanted to be a Star Warrior, but after her home planet Lambaya had been destroyed by DemonBeasts, and she had joined the Galaxy Soldiers, she had saw how much respect all Star Warriors got, whether they were good or bad fighters...even though all Star Warriors were good fighters... But no matter how much she trained, she could never become a Star Warrior, because she wasn't a Puffball. Yes, she HAD become one of the most respected warriors in the army, but she would have had so much more than if she was a Star Warrior. Many told her that she was too bent on being respected, and maybe she was, but she was still bitter that she couldn't have all the respect that she could have had. Most others would have seen the picture as a symbol of hope, yet a sad reminder of the lost war against Nightmare, but still something that was...good. But to Garlude, it wasn't it was something that represented bitterness. _Maybe it wasn't really all bad... I met a few good friends, and learned to fight... And even though it was impossible for us to be together, so I didn't tell him... It was really unfair how Star Warriors could only marry other Star Warriors to keep their lines clean...__  
_

Garlude was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard a soft sobbing sound. Her instant reaction to crying was thinking that Toon Link was whining for something again. Even though this sobbing was much quieter than Toon Link's usual crying, which was loud and attention-grabbing, this was quiet and private. It felt sad, but Toon Link was a good actor, especially when it was to get more ice cream. But Garlude realized that this was beyond Toon Link's acting. It was easy to tell that the sadness in it was genuine. It was quiet, as if whoever was crying didn't want to attract any attention to themselves. Garlude didn't even have to consider it. She immediately went to investigate the crying.

As Garlude followed the sound, she realized that the liquid on the floor wasn't water at all; they were tears. Soon, she found a dead end, which was really unexpected, and extremely rare for the mansion. What was even stranger was that it seemed to serve no purpose. Other than having nine large pictures around it, and a rather large chest sitting near the hall's end, it seemed pointless. The only other thing that was of significance was the rack of weapons, that was tucked snugly behind the chest. The weapons were only placed on spots above the chest, so they were all viewable. Garlude quickly scanned through them: there was a sword, some...medical equipment? And two orbs, side by side, with the first seemingly containing a spark of electricity and the second seemingly containing nothing but darkness. And of course, there was sitting curled up into a little ball in front of the chest. _Lucas must have been the one crying!_ Garlude thought. Seeing the innocent little boy so sad just made Garlude angry. Angry at the person who had made Lucas sad, which Garlude suspected was the one who had killed Claus. Garlude felt rage boiling from within her. She squeezed her eyes shut and suppressed her anger before attempting to comfort Lucas.

"Lucas, what's wrong?" Garlude asked, as gently as she could. Though she had to admit that it felt awkward saying these things, she felt like she had to help, or at least give some comfort to the crying boy.

Though Lucas just kept crying, as if he hadn't heard her, he actually did. And it warmed his heart, just a teensy bit, to know that someone cared about him.

"Come on, please tell me what's wrong," Garlude prompted. Hopefully, this would work, as she wasn't exactly patient. In fact, it was possible for her to be known for her _im_patience.

Lucas simply cried harder. It was nice that someone cared about him, and it probably should have cheered him up. But even though it may have made him a little happier, he just started crying harder. Though the voice of whoever was trying to help was a lot rougher than his Mom's, it had the same tone of kindness. For some, all these reminders would be comforting. But Lucas had just lost his brother again, and didn't want to be reminded of him, or his mother.

Garlude felt herself getting a bit annoyed. Lucas could make it so much easier by just replying. But still, she felt a responsibility towards the blond boy. She calmed herself down and tried again. "Lucas, please tell me what's wrong. I promise I'll try to help you, even though I might not be able to."

_Help._ Lucas wanted help. He _needed_ help. Lucas started crying and talking at the same time, trying to explain to Garlude why he was so sad. "Clausismybrotherandbestfriend," Lucas paused for a moment to choke down a sob. "Andhediedbeforeandsoddmymombut," Lucas panted for breath, tired from crying. thenhecamebackandIwasreallyhappybutnowhediedagain! " What Lucas said was almost entirely gibberish. It was much too fast for anyone to ever understand, and it was filled with sobs and pants for breath.

Not wanting to hurt the miserable Lucas' feelings, or upset him any more, Garlude pretended to understand. It really wasn't against her nature to be kind, she was actually a really nice person; she just wasn't patient. "It's alright," she comforted. "I can help you. Let's talk." Garlude sat down next to Lucas, in a similar position.

Lucas sniffled, and calmed down a bit. He was still sad, but his previously relentless sobbing was reduced to quiet tears, along with the occasional hiccup or whimper. "Has this *_hic* _ever hap- _*hic*_-enned to you?"

Garlude thought about it for a moment. She really wasn't sure what Lucas had said. _I guess I'll have to bluff through this and pick up pieces of information along the way_, she thought. _I assume that he's upset because Claus died, right after he thought he would get to be with his brother again... _"Why would anyone ever do that?!" Garlude yelled. She actually didn't mean to yell that. She didn't even mean to say it. But it had just come out.

Before Garlude could do anything, Lucas hopped away from her. He gave a frightened whimper, wondering what had caused the sudden rage in Garlude.

_How can someone be such a crybaby?_ Garlude wondered. _Next thing I learn about him is that he's afraid of food. _Garlude was exasperated by the way Lucas was acting. She knew that he was just a kid, but _still_. He was almost thirteen! He shouldn't be afraid of so many things! Garlude sighed inwardly, not wanted Lucas to hear. _One more try, and if it doesn't work, then I'm leaving._ "I'm sorry, Lucas. I'm just mad at whoever killed Claus." Even though Garlude had spent pretty much every ounce of her energy to make herself sound calm, what came out still sounded a little edgy.

Lucas scooted back towards her, seemingly less shaken. In fact, he had already stopped crying.

Garlude had decided how she would answer Lucas' question: she would take what she knew, and her guesses of what Lucas had said and answer as naturally as possible, which was by sharing her own experiences. It was funny how when she was asked a question, she could answer quickly when she was thinking about it and answering tactically, but when she was trying to reply naturally, it just didn't feel right. It was strange how she was a soldier, trained to fight with instinct. Though in battle, she was a devastating force, and could do it all without thinking, it was like she possessed no instinct outside of battle. Garlude finally replied to Lucas: "Well, it kind of happened to me as well. When I was really little, my home planet, Lambaya, got destroyed by DemonBeasts. I don't know if my family survived. Then I was found by the GSA, or Galaxy Star Army. Many of us died in the war against Nightmare. Some of my best friends died. And eventually...I died too. Everyone dies eventually." Garlude was using her softest, kindest tone. Though she usually didn't speak like this, Lucas reminded her of...herself, before she became a war-hardened soldier, and she just felt a responsibility towards protecting him.

Lucas was instantly absorbed into Garlude's history, even though Garlude wasn't telling it in detail. He had always liked stories, and he just thought that this one would be...interesting. More interesting than most other stories, at least. Although he thought the story was sad, he just wanted to hear more. The story had somehow washed away his misery, though it was only temporary, and wouldn't last any more than the time it took Garlude to tell the story and the time it took him to fully understand it. "Um, Ms. Garlude, can you tell me more of this story? It can be anytime! I just want to hear more!" Lucas made his best puppy-dog face, which was enough to win anyone over.

Garlude smiled. She would have agreed to tell him the rest of the story even if he hadn't made that face. "Of course I'll tell you the rest of the story. I can tell you whenever you want. How about we always meet here? It can be our secret place." Garlude was actually happy that someone was interested in her history. Many people were interested in Meta Knight's past, and Jecra's tale received plenty of love as well. But for some reason, she never got that sort of attention. She guessed it was because Meta Knight was suspected to be the last surviving Star Warrior, and even Galaxy Soldier other than Kirby, and Jecra had been inside Nightmare's lair after he was captured, but her story was interesting too, right? She was a brave warrior defeated at the scythes of Kirisakin... Wasn't that as exciting as all the other soldier's experiences?

* * *

Over the next few days, Garlude and Lucas often met at the dead-end hallway. Before each meeting, Garlude would select a part of her history as a Galaxy Soldier, and morph it into the form of a story to tell Lucas. Lucas enjoyed each one, no matter how Garlude told it. Occasionally, she would add a story about another soldier, just to spice up the stories and keep them interesting. Over the span of several days, Garlude had revealed most of her life to Lucas. Lucas had happily listened to the sad parts of her life, the happy parts, and the strange parts; all with unmatched focus. It was obvious how much Lucas liked the stories and how much Garlude enjoyed telling them. They shared a sense of kinship towards each other, being able to connect many events of their life.

The next day, when Garlude went to meet Lucas in the morning again, Lucas was already there. But something was notably off with his mood, and general demeanor. He seemed sad again, and there was something else mixed in there as well. The lust for revenge. The thing that had turned hundreds insane. It didn't matter if they were a fighter, or someone devoted to art. It could be anyone, of weak mind or strong mind. It had torn apart too many fine creatures to count. Garlude was surprised with the sudden difference in Lucas. He had seemed to be steadily cheering up again, and though it had been slow, it was noticeable. But now, something had happened that had reduced Lucas to a miserable wreck again. When he saw Garlude, he forced on a cheery expression that was too happy to be real. Garlude was instantly beside him.

Before Lucas had a chance to speak, Garlude was acting like a worried mother. "What happened, Lucas? Why are you so upset?" Garlude's tone lacked the usual kindness that it possessed when speaking to Lucas. It wasn't mean, and not really strict either, but it was firm. That was the only word that could describe it.

Lucas acted like Garlude hadn't spoken. He simply ignored her and asked her for a story in a very odd tone. He used the same words that he always did, but the feeling was completely different. His voice sounded broken, as if every word was forced, and there was a slightly unstable air in his tone.

Garlude was no longer asking her questions. She didn't tone it like a question either. It was a statement, and the tone demanded an answer. "What's wrong." Garlude hoped that the force in her voice would scare Lucas into replying with something relevant, though the "scare" part was subconscious. But knowingly or not, her tone was one that forced information out of others.

Lucas found himself tricked by Garlude's tone of voice, like many before him. "I had a dream. It was a nightmare. The worst one I've ever had! It was the scariest thing I've ever seen, or heard, or anything!" Lucas had started making soft whimpering noises as he remembered the dream. It could have been a happy dream, he reflected, but it really wasn't. It was demented.

Garlude tilted her head. Nightmares were horrible. They created an alternate reality, created specifically to torture you, scarring you where it hurt the most. Nightmares could be challenging to recover from. "What was it about?" Garlude knew there was a wide range for nightmares. They could just be scary, or force you to relive something awful. There were so many different forms of a nightmare that Garlude couldn't list them all. She hoped that Lucas would be able to go through whatever had happened one more time so she could pinpoint what it was and how she might be able to help him.

Lucas was no longer persuaded by a strict voice, but he still trusted Garlude enough to tell her what the nightmare was about. If Garlude asked, Lucas would tell her almost anything. "I was in a place I had been in before. It was a huge sunflower field, high up in the sky. The first time, I saw Hinawa there. She saved me. After, I was really happy, and I knew that my mom was still looking after me. This time, I was really happy as well. I thought I would see her again. And I was even happier when i actually saw her, because Claus was there too. And he wanted to play with me again. But then Hinawa disappeared, and Claus turned into the masked man again, and said that if I wanted to play with him again, I would have to join him!" There was something else that had caused the sudden change in Lucas, but he didn't want to overwhelm Garlude with information. He would wait until she had absorbed and responded to this before telling her any more.

It took a few seconds for Garlude to comprehend the entire dream. _This is the most demented nightmare I have ever heard of. _It was just awful. Letting Lucas see his lost kin, but only for a few moments before such a disturbing message... what did it even mean? Garlude was already assuming that "the Masked Man" was the "evil" side of Lucas' brother, and she didn't want to make any more assumptions in fear that they could be wrong. _What does "join him even mean? Does it mean that he has to die to play with Claus again? Is Claus asking his BROTHER to DIE for him? I know it's just a dream, but this truly IS an awful_ _nightmare__._ "Well, Lucas, if I understand the nightmare correctly, then I would guess that Claus is asking you to die so you can play together, correct?" She received a small nod from Lucas. "But that isn't the real Claus. Don't listen to him. If you DID die, think of all the people that would be sad. Ness and Toon Link would definitely be sad. They're you second best friends. And I know I would be as well. Not to mention Hinawa and Claus. I'm sure that they still care for you very much. And I bet that you have a lot of friends back where you live as well. Instead of dwelling on the nightmare and what the fake Claus said, think of all the people that care about you, and how sad they would be if you joined you brother." Garlude really didn't know where all her kindness came from. She usually wasn't like this. But she still hoped that she would be able to help Lucas. As she thought about it, she realized how mentally tortured Lucas really was.

Lucas nodded at Garlude's words, and did what she recommended right away. _Kumatora would be really sad if I died. And Boney would be sad too. Not to mention Duster, and Dad. The people of Tazmilly wouldn't be happy, especially Leder. He would be disappointed if I completed that quest, and chose not to continue in life__._ Lucas soon realized that what Garlude had suggested worked wonderfully. Instead of thinking of things that upset him, thinking about things that brought happy memories was wonderful. Though the nightmare still lingered in the back of his mind, it was too swamped with good memories. But now _he _wanted Claus back. But that wasn't possible. There were no more who could revive. Yet he wanted to avenge Claus in some way. Which was really getting his own revenge. _I don't want whoever hurt my brother to be here anymore! I'm sure Garlude will help me! _"Garlude, there's something I really want to do. Can you help me?" Once again, Lucas made his best puppy-dog face.

If it hadn't been for the face, Garlude wouldn't have agreed. She would have asked Lucas what his request was first. It was always safer that way., but she didn't want to go back on her word, in fear of hurting Lucas' feelings. _I guess I'll have to help him, or at least talk him out of it... _Garlude sighed inwardly. Lucas had a look on his face that said he wouldn't be talked out of it. Whether she was helping or not, Lucas would follow through, ignoring all consequences.

Lucas was overjoyed. He knew he had tricked Garlude into saying yes, but she could always have backed out after he stopped right?... And Garlude was showing no proof that she would quit, other than a slightly nervous look... "I wanna avenge Claus by getting rid of whoever killed him!" Luacs wondered momentarily if this was too much to ask for, but he quickly shook it off. Garlude had always loved helping him, and she used to be a soldier, so she would be good at this, right?

Garlude nearly gave away some sign of shock. It was barely restrained at the last second. _So he wants me to help him kill whoever killed Claus? This isn't good... I'd better talk him out of it. _Garlude gave a small cough before responding to Lucas' request. "Lucas, I don't know if this is a good idea. It will be dangerous. We don't even know who killed Claus or where they are." Garlude struggled to retain a calm, serious voice. She didn't want to scare Lucas by showing that she was scared herself.

Lucas was starting to get confused by the way Garlude was talking. She acted like she wanted to help him, but at the same time, it felt like she was reluctant to carry out this "plan" of theirs. "But...I know where we might be ale to find them! Claus got hurt when he went into the forest! Maybe we can go there too!" Lucas really wasn't sure about the forest. But it was hope to avenge Claus, and it was possible that it would convince Garlude to help him. Even if the plan didn't work, he wanted to believe that the plan would succeed.

Garlude frowned. Lucas wouldn't be talked out of this. He might not survive going through the forest alone, especially if the person who killed Claus was there. "Alright, Lucas, I'll help you. Why don't we meet here again tomorrow, and create a plan? Then after that, we can get ready and begin your plan." Garlude already knew she would have to do a lot of planning, and getting ready beforehand. It would be a busy day for her, with the third round matches. "Why don't you go and get ready for your next fight?"

"Alright! I'll go and do that right now! And I'll meet you here tomorrow too!" Before Garlude could reply again, Lucas had run off.

* * *

_"Dr. Mario wouldn't join us. I am sorry, but there will not be another one of your kind." The first speaker had a feminine voice, and looked slightly like a human with a purple skirt.  
_

_"Well that's too bad..." The second person to speak was a human, dressed in overalls. "It would have been nice if he had joined as well. He's just like me; never getting the attention he deserved."_

_Then, a giant, hulking figure spoke. "I saw Lucas running down the hall, Master. He was mumbling something about going to the forest and avenging Claus. We could be in danger."_

_The feminine voice spoke again: "Before you ask, we will not kill Lucas. You have already killed and innocent, and I will not allow you to destroy another. He has never wronged any of us, unlike Zelda, or Mario. We each had are own reason for forming this group, and we all feel some form of hatred towards another, but we will not take an uninvolved life."  
_

_"Yes, Master."_

* * *

**Author's Note: Well? Was it good? Please tell me it was! I worked really hard on it! My goal for the end of the story is 100 reviews, and 20 favourites and follows (individually, not together!) So please review, even though I think I have enough chapters left to hit 100, and for those of you who haven't, please favourite and follow! (P.S., there's a poll on my profile.)  
**


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